Cannabis farmer who lept from window is jailed
An illegal immigrant was caught leaping out of the window of a house which was being used as a cannabis farm worth more than £250,000, a court heard.
Vietnamese national Toan Dang arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry and was taken under the wing of a man he knew only as 'boss'.
Wolverhampton Crown Court was told the 19-year-old was tasked with running a cannabis factory set up in a house on Forster Street in Smethwick.
But Dang was apprehended when police swooped at the property and is now facing two years behind bars.
Mr Mark Phillips, prosecuting, told the court police officers arrested Dang after they spotted him scrambling out of a window at the rear of the house on March 21.
"He was caught red-handed," said the prosecutor.
A search of the property revealed 330 cannabis plants which, based on three harvests a year, would be valued at anything between £250,000 and £900,000.
"The value of the cannabis was more likely to be nearer the lower figure than the higher one," added Mr Phillips.
Mr Brett Wilson, defending, told the court Dang had arrived in the UK as a refugee having entered the country via France on the back of a lorry.
Dang, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis. He was jailed for two years.
Judge Nicholas Webb ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis recovered from the property.
