Jail for man after hundreds of cannabis plants found in Halifax house

Vietnamese national Binh Vo tried to claim he was only 17 years old but evidence found on his mobile phone proved he was a man in his 30s.

Today (Friday) Vo, 32, pleaded guilty a charge of producing skunk cannabis which could have netted criminals over £150,00 if the drug was sold on the streets.

The Courier reported last December how police officers acting on community intelligence forced their way into the house on Oak Terrace, off Battinson Road, and discovered five rooms in the property had been converted to grow the Class B drug.

Prosecutor Clare Walsh told Bradford Crown Court that officers found Vo hiding in the cellar and 399 cannabis plants were being grown in various rooms.

The electricity to the property had been bypassed and the rooms had been equipped with transformers, lighting and carbon filters.

Miss Walsh said the current crop was estimated to be worth up to £76,000 if it was sold as one-gramme street deals.

There was also a potential follow-on crop being grown which could have taken the total street value to £153,000.

The Recorder of Bradford Judge Richard Mansell QC described Vo’s claim to be a teenager as “nonsensical” and said the operation in the house was clearly capable of producing significant quantities of skunk cannabis for commercial use.

Vo, who will now be deported after serving half his jail sentence, claimed he had paid £20,000 to be brought into the country illegally and after being jailed he asked via an interpreter if his sentence could be shorter so he could return to Vietnam sooner.

Judge Mansell accepted that Vo’s role had been limited to looking after the plants, but he said the defendant must have been expecting some financial gain.