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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Sophie Corcoran

Teenager 'dumped' at Leeds cannabis house after 'arriving in UK on back of lorry'

A teenager who was found in a house with over £130,000 worth of cannabis claimed he had been taken there and "left" that day.

Duc Nguyen, 19, was found at the property in Brompton View, Hunslet Carr, when officers from West Yorkshire Police executed a warrant on September 16 last year.

Police found cannabis plants and lamps on all three floors of the house.

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Prosecuting, Christopher Dunn told Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday that officers entered the property and saw the key had been left in the door. Soon after, they came across Nguyen.

Mr Dunn said: "They found the defendant in the living room. Police discovered almost three floors had been converted into a cannabis farm. There was a great deal of plants, ventilators, lighting equipment - such which would be necessary for a farm."

In the cellar of the property, 73 plants at an early stage of growth were found and were valued at bringing in between £34,000 and £40,000.

On the cellar stairs, a further 96 cannabis plant saplings, believed to be the second follow on crop valued at a total of between £45,000 and £52,000 were found.

Stock photo of a cannabis plant (PA)

In the first floor bedroom, 96 mature cannabis plants were also found. They were valued at an amount up to £52,000.

Mr Dunn said Nguyen was arrested and he told officers he had only got to the property that day and had been taken there by an "unknown man."

He said: "He said that around 30 minutes later the police arrived and arrested him. He said he was an illegal immigrant and had arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry but he could not say when that was.

"He said he had nothing to do with the cannabis farm and he didn't live at the property and his fingerprints or DNA wouldn't be found there as he had only recently arrived."

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Officers did find Nguyen's DNA on a plug and a lamp at the property and also on a face mask that had been left on the stairs.

The court heard that in 2018, Nguyen had been investigated in relation to a cannabis farm in Manchester. Mr Dunn said Nyugen was not involved in the cannabis farm, but human trafficking issues were raised.

He said: "It is obvious he was a victim of trafficking back in October 2018. His conduct suggests as being pretty much a sure and informed decision on his part to participate [this time]."

Bashir Ahmed, mitigating told the court that it is "naïve to suggest that just because a person has once been trafficked that there is no further risk from trafficking."

He added that Nguyen pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis following a plea trial and preparation hearing in October last year.

Recorder Jason Pitter QC sentenced Nyugen to two years in a Young Offenders' Institute, telling him that the cannabis farm would have raked in an "excess of over £90,000."

He added: "There was plainly the ability and intention to produce significantly more. There has been a conclusion in your case in terms of your involvement. You intended to be cooperative by making sure the equipment was operating."

Nyugen will serve up to half of his sentence in custody, less his time on remand, before being released on licence.

To get the latest email updates from Yorkshire Live, click here.

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