I can’t give you judge tells drug Better life, gardener

ILLEGAL IMMMIGRANT FOUND WITH PLANTS IN CITY HOUSE

THE life of a cannabis gardener caught tending 342 cannabis plants in a house being run by a Chinese criminal gang was laid bare in court.

Say Phung, 45, a Vietnamese national, was trafficked into the UK and put to work in various restaurant kitchens before being placed in the cannabis farm in Harrow Road, off Narborough Road, in Westcotes, Leicester.

At Leicester Crown Court, Phung admitted producing cannabis on March 19.

Luc Chignell, prosecuting, said: “The police, acting upon intelligence, visited the terraced property and found mature cannabis plants growing in five rooms, all except the kitchen and the living room, where the defendant was living.

“No money was recovered but there was food in the fridge.”

The property was rented by an unknown person who took on the tenancy using false identification documents.

Michael Anning, mitigating, said: “In Vietnam, his family incurred a substantial debt to money lenders and his family’s farm was destroyed.

“He was then set to work by a Chinese gang and it was they who trafficked him into this country, in 2016.

“He was doing various jobs, in various locations, including working in a kitchen and cooking.

“He was moved to Leicester in March this year and taken to the

Harrow Road address to tend cannabis plants just three days before his arrest.

“He was subject to coercion and the only reason he’s here is because of the gang. He has no previous convictions.”

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said: “Sadly, this is a familiar tale where people from your country and other countries in South East Asia find themselves in this country through illegal means.

“They no doubt hoped for a better life but are controlled by others who put them to work, sometimes not necessarily illegal work but then are turned, as you were, into illegal activity.

“It’s accepted you cannot avail yourself of any defence under trafficking laws.

“From what I’ve seen you had sufficient independence and autonomy and aren’t being regarded as a trafficked slave – you’re beyond that category.

“It’s accepted you were involved in the supply of drugs at the lowest level, as a gardener.

“This grow wasn’t set up by you and was organised by others and they’ve escaped justice.

“The street value of the grow could have been worth up to a quarter of a million pounds.

“The supply of cannabis leads to all sorts of problems in society and is far from harmless. All sorts of serious crime emanates from it.

“I have considerable sympathy for your situation. If I had a magic wand I would give you a better life but, sadly, I don’t. “While my powers are wideranging, I cannot give you a better life.

“All I can do is implement the sentencing guidelines.

“You have more than served the equivalent of the sentence while on remand in custody. “The future looks bleak, however one looks at it, and I repeat my regret that I’m helpless to do anything about

If I had a magic wand I would give you a better life but, sadly, I don’t

Judge Timothy Spencer QC

that.”

Phung was given a nine-month prison sentence. It was not stated in court whether or not the Home Office planned to deport him.