Vietnamese man faces deportation after being jailed over Telford cannabis factory

Binh Phan, 38, had already been issued with a deportation notice by the Home Office before he was given a 40-week prison sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard that Phan, of no fixed abode, became involved in the operation after being recruited by a criminal gang.

The operation was capable of producing 30 kilograms of cannabis each year, and was described as producing the drug on "a significant scale".

Police discovered the cannabis grow after being called to a disturbance at a property in Regent Street, Wellington, in April earlier this year.

Phan was not likely to have benefitted much from being involved in the production of the 245 plants, the court was told.

When sentencing Phan, judge Jim Tindal said it would be wrong to impose a longer sentence to trigger an automatic deportation notice.

However, he added that while Phan might not have gained a lot from the operation, he must have known it was illegal.

He said: "I have been told and have no reason to disbelieve that in Vietnam you were a businessman and you came to this country to try and find work.

"You were unable to find work and there are in this country a number of gangs operating who recruit vulnerable newcomers from south East Asia, particularly Vietnam, to run their operations of cultivating cannabis.

"There is every reason to believe that is exactly what happened in your case.

"Your situation is typical of many.

"You came here looking for a new life and you found yourself in something approaching modern slavery.

"I doubt there is much you earned from the exercise at all.

"There is no reason to believe you have been in trouble before.

"Nevertheless this was a big operation and you must have known it was illegal and it is right to describe this, if not as industrial, then as capable of producing cannabis on a significant scale."

He added: "It would be quite wrong of me to impose a longer sentence to make it 12 months to trigger the automatic deportation notice.

"But notice of deportation has been served and it is now a matter for the Home Office to effect that deportation in the usual way.

"That is a matter for them to do not me.

"It is certainly not a matter for a judge to impose a wrong sentence to ensure the Home Office can carry out a deportation notice."