[[{“value”:”
Police found a cannabis grow worth upwards of £100,000 when they raided a rented house in Wollaton. Almost the entire property had been turned over to producing the class B drug with the electricity also being by-passed and a sophisticated lighting and extraction unit had been put in place.
Also inside the property was illegal immigrant Nam Tran who had agreed to become involved as a gardener having fallen into debt with a loan shark in his home country. Now the 21-year-old’s dream of living a law-abiding life in the UK and wanting to claim asylum are in the hands of the authorities.
Jailing him for 16 months, Judge James Sampson said: “You entered this country illegally and you took to work as a gardener growing cannabis. This was a commercial grow capable of yielding over £100,000 of cannabis.
“There 196 plants and there was cannabis on bags indicating a previous grow. There were scales, there was a burner phone, the electricity had been bypassed and there was lighting.
“There were fans, there was extraction equipment and you clearly knew the scale of this operation. It was sophisticated and you had keys to the premises which showed you could come and go as you wished so you must have been trusted.
“There was a well-stocked fridge and your activity would require some skill. I have no idea if what you have told the probation service is true or not about your background but I put that to one side.
“You say you want to claim asylum and live in this country. In my view you should be deported, but that is beyond my powers.”
Devni Kitulagoda, prosecuting at Nottingham Crown Court, said Nottinghamshire Police executed a warrant at the address in Whitemoss Close, at around 8.50am on July 23 after receiving information that a house there was being used to grow the class B drug. She said on entering the premises five of the rooms had been converted.
The prosecutor said: “There were plants growing in the living room, in bedrooms and in the lofts as well as fans, lighting and the electricity had been by-passed. In total, there were 196 plants plus three bags of cannabis which had already been cropped.
“The police drugs expert estimated the value of what was seized, depending on how it was sold as upwards of £100,000.”
Tran of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and has no previous convictions, Miss Kitulagoda said.
Serena Varatharajah, mitigating, said her client was “still young,” had admitted what he had done in his police interview and pleaded guilty to the offence the day after the raid. She said: “This is his first time in custody and he has been remanded since July 24. His background is that he lived in Vietnam and was threatened to become involved over a debt he incurred.
“He started a joint venture with others in Vietnam selling lorries and trailers to move goods and borrowed money from a loan shark. He has no family in the UK but wants to live a law-abiding life here but this conviction is not going to put him in a strong position.”
A decision on whether or not to deport Tran after he is released partway through his sentence is down to the Home Office.
In a statement released at the time of the raid, Sgt Georgina Northwood said: “The extent to which the electrics had been modified within this property to power the grows inside provided a very real fire hazard and so put everyone living in the surrounding homes at risk.
“We know, having listened to the views of our residents, that they don’t want to see those involved in cannabis production operating within their communities.
“These practices bring nothing but trouble and often have links to the type of wider criminality that people want to stay far away from their homes and families.” Nottinghamshire Live has asked Nottinghamshire Police for a custody photograph.
“}]] He wants to live a law-abiding life in the UK but his conviction might say otherwise Read More