Harrogate cannabis gardener jailed after £250,000 farm found

A Vietnamese cannabis gardener has been jailed after police found him ensconced in a huge drug factory surrounded by hundreds of marijuana plants worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

Manh Nguyen, 18, was arrested at the house in West Lea Avenue, Harrogate, where he had been tending 460 plants inside a sophisticated cannabis factory equipped with irrigation and temperature systems, York Crown Court heard.

Nguyen, of no fixed address, was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation, claiming he had been trafficked to the UK to work as a cannabis gardener and was a victim of modern slavery.

The teenager was due to face trial today but entered a last-minute guilty plea to the charge, notwithstanding the fact the authorities had found he had been trafficked and was working effectively as a modern slave. 

The Crown proceeded straight to sentence knowing that any jail sentence would be negated by the amount of time Nguyen had spent on remand.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said police discovered the bumper cannabis harvest on August 11 last year after raiding the property in Harrogate. 

She added:

“They found inside a total of 460 cannabis plants spread across the rooms of the house.

“The defendant was the only person present at the property. The cannabis grow is estimated to be worth up to £210,000.

“There was a significant amount of equipment recovered including an irrigation system and temperature controls.

“(Nguyen) was found sleeping on a mattress in the front room. It is essentially accepted that he was a gardener given instructions over the phone to water the plants on a daily basis.

“He was seen by neighbours outside the property but only as far as the front of the garden.”

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She said it was “clear that (Nguyen) was performing a limited role” in the drug enterprise and that he didn’t see a penny of the profits. 

Ms Morrison added:

“Clearly, he was a vulnerable young adult and there has been a finding by the (authorities) that he has been trafficked.”

Defence barrister Harry Crowson said Nguyen had come to the UK after being trafficked from Vietnam. He quickly found himself being in debt to his criminal bosses and “taking instructions for a period of time”.

He said that at one stage Nguyen escaped from his criminal bosses and was given social housing, but the criminal gang found him and “brought him back to this same life”.

He said Nguyen’s captors had given him instructions to keep the front garden tidy by cutting the grass, but only gave him a pair of scissors with which to do so.

Mr Crowson said neighbours saw Nguyen performing the pathetic task “either under instruction to keep the grass tidy or because he was in the property with nothing else to occupy his time”.

Mr Crowson added:

“He is very young and came to this country for a better life.”

He said that Nguyen had been on custodial remand since August last year and had already served the equivalent of a one-year-jail sentence.

Used as a ‘modern slave’

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, addressed Nguyen through a Vietnamese interpreter and told the teenager: 

“It’s quite clear you have been used or (you were) what is termed these days a modern slave.

“You were living on a mattress (and) there is nothing to suggest you (made) any money whatsoever from this criminality.

“It’s a common story that people are hoodwinked into thinking they can get work and they are abused in this way.”

He said that had Nguyen played a “leading role…in this cannabis factory”, he would have given him “as long a sentence as I possibly could”, but that wasn’t the case.

Nguyen received an eight-month jail sentence, but he had already served the equivalent period on remand.

However, the judge warned him: 

“Whether you are released from custody will be a matter for the Home Office.”

The court heard that the authorities were looking into Nguyen’s possible deportation.