Judge's concern over number of illegal Vietnamese immigrants being used to grow cannabis in Bolton

Following the conviction of Bin Truong, who was caught with 223 plants in the loft space above flats near Bolton town centre, the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson said: "Frequently, if not always, cannabis farms are being looked after or cultivated by Vietnamese gardeners.

"They are exposed to the highest risk of detection.

"They are clearly being directed by and operated by others who remain unseen and undetected.

"It is worrying. It is well known that there is a real problem of the sort I have mentioned."

Following a three day trial at Bolton Crown Court a jury of seven men and five women unanimously found 41-year-old Truong guilty of producing cannabis.

Paul Dockery, prosecuting, told how Truong was caught when police raided a third floor flat at Royal Court Drive on November 6 last year.

Officers broke down the door and found him in the hallway.

A search of the two bedroom flat found ladders inside a built-in wardrobe.

They led to a hole in the cupboard ceiling which gave access to the building's loft and inside were 223 plants growing thanks to a sophisticated cultivation set up, which included fans, lighting and watering equipment.

The jury were told that, when harvested, the plants would have produced up to 11kg of cannabis, worth thousands of pounds.

Truong had entered the country illegally in the back of a lorry in October 2014, being caught when it stopped on the M2 in Kent.

But he later failed to attend appointments with immigration authorities.

He claimed he had only been at the Bolton flat for a month, having been offered the free accommodation, food and cash, some of which he sent back to his family in Vietnam.

Sentencing him to three years in prison, after which he will be deported, Judge Clayson told Truong, who listened via an interpreter: "It is clear, to a certain extent, you were vulnerable to being used by people who were operating this criminal enterprise."