Ovidijus Judikavicius, 30, with no fixed address, has been ordered to stand trial at Londonderry Crown Court on charges of cultivating cannabis and dishonestly using electricity.

The charges follow a police operation at a property on Quarry Road in Knockloughrim on 11 November last year. Officers from the PSNI's Organised Crime Unit, assisted by the Operational Support Department, carried out searches in Magherafelt and Bangor. They reported seizing suspected cannabis plants with a potential street value of £320,000 from a cannabis factory at the Knockloughrim site, where Judikavicius was arrested.

Appearing at Magherafelt Magistrates Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison, Judikavicius, who used a Lithuanian interpreter, declined to say anything in answer to the charges or to submit a written statement of evidence at that stage.

District Judge Conor Heaney told the court that, on the papers before him, the accused had a prima facie case to answer. A prosecution lawyer also stated there was a case to answer. Defence counsel made no bail application as no address was available. The judge remanded Judikavicius in custody to appear for arraignment at Londonderry Crown Court on 2 July.