AN ILLEGAL immigrant has been jailed for 38 months after admitting setting up an “extensive commercial cannabis farm” at his rented house in Bradford.

Ly Nguyen, 25, of Clover Street, Little Horton, appeared before Bradford Crown Court yesterday charged with producing the Class B drug.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood outlined how a total of 81 large cannabis plants and 75 smaller plants would have a potential yield of 8.59kg of cannabis skunk. He told the court that prosecutors were “sceptical” about the date of birth provided by Nguyen, who originates from Vietnam. He said a fingerprint scan suggested his name was Tham Xuan Hoang and that he was born on September 6, 1988, making him 30.

Mr Wood said that officers had executed a search of Nguyen’s home on May 4 this year, just after 10pm, and had found an “extensive commercial cannabis farm”.

Four bedrooms at the home were given over to cannabis production with plants at various stages of growth, he said.

There were 27 large plants in the first floor rear bedroom and 42 large plants in the front bedroom on the first floor.

In addition there were 12 large plants and 99 cannabis seedlings in the front attic bedroom, and 75 smaller plants in the rear attic bedroom.

Each room also contained high-wattage lamps, transformers, fans, carbon filters and plastic sheeting.

Specialised nutrients were found in the first floor bathroom, a large quantity of root balls and soil were found on the lane at the back of the house, and broken growing equipment was discovered in the cellar.

Mr Wood added: “Detective Constable Stephen Dodd observed that the address was clean and there were no concerns over the lifestyle of the defendant.

“There was a television, laptop and four mobile telephones within the downstairs living area. There was food in the fridge and cans of lager, along with a half-full bottle of Cognac within the kitchen area. There were razors and a single toothbrush in the bathroom.”

He added that prosecutors were satisfied Nguyen was not the victim of trafficking.

Sarah Carter for Nguyen said he was aware that a custodial sentence was inevitable and that she believed his part was at the lower end of a significant role.

Judge David Hatton QC said Nguyen played a “significant role” in what was a commercial cannabis operation, and that he was involved “entirely freely” and “purely for financial gain”.