A man who claimed "mafia guards" coerced him into running a cannabis farm had an appeal thrown out by judges even after the Home Office concluded he had been trafficked.
The Vietnamese national, who was granted anonymity by the courts, was arrested outside a house in Haydock in early 2017, while police were conducting a search warrant. The house was discovered to be a "cannabis factory" and officers found three mobile phones and £700 cash on a table inside.
The man was in a car outside the address, and found to have £100 in his wallet and a key to the house on him, as well as a knife in the car. The man later told police he had entered the UK illegally and had been sleeping rough for around five months, until he met people who offered to pay him £200 a week to look after the plants.
