Vietnamese drugs 'gardener' was desperate for money, Hull Crown Court hears  

'NO FINANCIAL GAIN': Ngoc Luong has been jailed for working in a cannabis factory.

A VIETNAMESE man who became a "gardener" for a cannabis factory because he was short of money has been jailed for a year, Hull Crown Court heard.

Ngoc Luong, 35, agreed to tend to the farm of skunk cannabis at a house in Prince's Road, west Hull, because he was struggling to provide for his wife and child, the court was told.

But he made nothing from the enterprise because he was arrested shortly after taking up the role.

Alerted by the distinctive smell, police looked through the letterbox and saw sheeting and other paraphernalia associated with large-scale cannabis production.

They forced entry and found Luong alone in the property.

In the back bedroom were 61 plants grown to a height of 40cm, nine high-powered lamps, an extractor fan and other equipment.

A total of 85 plants of a similar height were growing in the front bedroom, while in the attic were 240 cuttings of 10cm height with "similar growth aids", James Byatt, prosecuting said.

This was to be the follow-up crop.

In total, the potential value of the cannabis was £75,000, the court heard.

Luong, who listened to proceedings through an interpreter, had suffered a degree of exploitation and "no financial gain", Mr Byatt said.

John Thackray, for Luong, said he had moved to the UK about ten years ago, settled in London, and married his wife three and a half years ago.

"She was unemployed and they had a four-month-old baby together," Mr Thackray said.

"He was in financial dire straits."

Referring to his time spent in custody on remand, Mr Thackray said: "He's learned his lesson. He won't be repeating this behaviour.

"The defendant gained absolutely nothing - he was arrested within a short period of being there."

Luong, of Kildare Walk, London, admitted producing cannabis.

Sentencing him to a year in jail, Judge Michael Mettyear told him: "This is a very common offence now in this area.

"People need to know it is not acceptable to create cannabis- growing factories, and whatever the role played by an individual, when the yield potential is as great as it is in this case and other cases like it, custody is an inevitable sentence.

"You knew exactly what you were getting into. You knew the risks you ran and you were prepared to take them for money.

"You say you are in desperate need of money; well, that may apply to lots of people who don't turn to this sort of conduct.

"It's no excuse, but I bear in mind your relatively good character, the fact that you are still young, and most importantly, that you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

"It's a highly significant feature, which reduces the sentence that would otherwise be appropriate.

"Had it not been for your early guilty plea, I would have sentenced you to 18 months in prison."

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Vietnamese-drugs-gardener-desperate-money-Hull/story-21661046-detail/story.html 19/07/2014