'Hungry and homeless' Vietnamese immigrant who looked after Pudsey cannabis farm to be detained by Home Office
A “hungry and homeless” Vietnamese immigrant who was found tending to a cannabis farm worth £58,000 has been sentenced.
Truong Nguyen was arrested after police raided the property on Bradford Road on September 29 last year. Inside the house they found two rooms filled with a total of 216 plants, 103 of which were mature.
The usual set up of lights, transformers and fans were also in place and the electricity had been bypassed.
Experts believed the plants were capable of producing around £58,000 worth of cannabis. Nguyen, 23, gave no comments during his interview. A second man was also arrested at the scene but no charges were brought against him.
Nguyen previously pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis and he was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday (May 30).
In a previous hearing it was heard that unemployed Nguyen had come to the UK to find work, having incurred medical bills in his home country for his father's treatment for stomach cancer.
He was homeless upon reaching the UK and stayed with other Vietnamese nationals before being offered work at the house on Bradford Road.
Mitigating on his behalf, Matthew Stewart said: "He was given the keys to the address, but told to carry out the growing of the cannabis. He says he was subject to violence on one occasion at that address, and had to ask permission to leave that address but realises it's not a defence.
“He was desperate, homeless and hungry, that's why he went there. His role was a gardener, it was clearly not his own operation. He had no influence on the chain above. His vulnerabilities were exploited. He wishes to express his remorse and apologises to the court. He regrets his actions."
Passing sentence, Judge Ray Singh said: “I accept that you were not the prime operator in this matter. In reality your expectation will have been for some limited financial advantage.”
He sentenced Nguyen to nine months in prison, though because he had been in custody since his arrest this meant that he had already served his time.
Judge Singh said: “I understand that you may be in this country illegally and therefore the Home Office may detain you. That’s a matter which I have no control over.”