This is the extraordinary secret bunker built beneath an Oxford shed and which was being used to stash cannabis.
Pictures seen by a judge at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday showed the hidden trapdoor behind which was a flight of steps leading to the breeze block-built subterranean drugs grotto.
Akil Budini, 40, had the sizeable cellar built beneath a shed in the property he shared with his partner, which was understood to have been in Cowley.
When the police raided the bunker last year, they found several kilos of cannabis in clear plastic bags together with hydroponic growing equipment.
The Mr Big said to have been involved in directing the enterprise is currently at large, having failed to appear before the Oxford magistrates last month.
Bunker builder Budini, of Rowan Grove, Oxford, appeared before Oxford Crown Court on Thursday morning, when he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of a class B drug. Prosecutors dropped a similar charge against his partner.
Judge Michael Gledhill KC adjourned sentence for the preparation of a probation report, which would consider whether the defendant could be punished in the community.
But he said he was ordering a probation report against his ‘better judgement’.
“I have got to send a very clear message out that those who facilitate the supply of drugs by constructing a substantial bunker in which to hide drugs - even if it’s on behalf of others – in the garden, under a shed of their partner, the mother of their children, must be dealt with by way of an immediate sentence,” he told the court.
He added of the fact that he was adjourning for a pre-sentence report: “Nobody must think that I’m giving any sort of indication let alone promises that I will impose anything other than an immediate custodial sentence.”
Having been asked earlier in the day why it had taken so long to charge the three defendants, prosecutor Steven Molloy said the matter had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service by Thames Valley Police for advice on charging in June this year. Charges were then authorised by the CPS two months later.
The delay in the investigation was attributed to the need to interrogate mobile phones seized by the police. There was a considerable backlog in telephones and other digital devices waiting to be analysed by the specialist police unit.
Judge Gledhill suggested that, had it not taken so long, the at-large third defendant might not have had the opportunity to flee ‘leaving this man to face the music by himself’.
Budini will return to court for sentence on December 16.
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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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