Vietnamese immigrant jailed for tending cannabis plants

An illegal Vietnamese immigrant who was tricked into looking after a cannabis factory in Bristol has been jailed for 21 months.

Cuong Pham travelled to Britain on the back of a lorry and was offered work looking after "grass" which he later discovered was 250 cannabis plants inside a converted house in Staple Hill.

Pham, 27, of no fixed abode, was discovered on his own inside the building by police armed with a drugs search warrant.

Pham, who doesn't speak any English, admitted a single charge of producing cannabis.

Robert Reid, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, said the defendant and the cannabis factory in Lower Station Road, Staple Hill, were discovered by police on October 30 this year.

Mr Reid said: "The sole occupant, Pham, was arrested. The house was found to have been converted into a cannabis cultivation factory, the electricity meter having been bypassed and windows blacked out."

He said 250 plants were recovered from different rooms in the house and more cannabis was being dried.

James Haskell, defending, said his client came to the UK expecting to earn more money and had not expected to be involved in an illegal operation.