A cannabis farmer was caught crouching in the loft of a three-bedroom house that had been turned into a drugs factory.
Illegal immigrant Canh Nguyen had been brought to the North East with the promise of employment as a cleaner but was instead put in a house in Ashington, Northumberland, and told to water the extensive cannabis farm which had been set up.
Almost every room in the property on Chichester Close had been turned into a drugs production unit, with more than 450 plants at various stages of growth. Now Nguyen, who admitted producing cannabis, has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court.
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It was on March 4 last year that police went to Chichester Close, in Ashington. Jemima Stephenson, prosecuting, said: "Entry was forced and police found inside a large cannabis grow. A number of rooms had been used for growing cannabis."
The court heard there were 100 plants in the living room, 150 in one bedroom, 150 in a back bedroom, 50 in the front bedroom and a further 30 to 40 young plants in the loft.
Miss Stephenson said: "Noises were heard from the loft and police found the defendant crouching in the corner of the loft."
Nguyen, who has no previous convictions in this country, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and was jailed for ten months.
Richard Bloomfield, defending, said: "He is in this country illegally. In the early part of last year he was in Ukraine. When war broke out he made his way to France and he came to this country illegally.
"He was working further south as a cleaner and he met two men who told him he could work as a cleaner in the North East. He was accommodated within the property that was searched.
"He was set to work cleaning the house and he was told to water the plants when they needed it. He was given instructions in English and he used Google translate to work out those instructions.
"It was not his cannabis farm and he was not being paid. He was receiving, in effect, free accommodation and his food was provided for him. He became involved through naivety or exploitation and he had no influence on those above him in the enterprise."
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