A MAN who came to Britain illegally hiding in the back of a lorry has been jailed for running a cannabis factory.

Canh Nguyen was given a one-way train ticket to Southampton from Birmingham to act as a “gardener” at a three-bedroom house in Westbury Road, Shirley. Police discovered he had been tending 121 cannabis plants.

“They were well established but probably had not reached maturity,” prosecutor Roderick Blain told Southampton Crown Court, adding they had a potential yield of at least £10,000.

Nguyen, 29, told police how he had been earning small amounts of money doing menial work before getting the train to Southampton, where he was met at the station and told he would receive £150 to look after the crop.

Nguyen, of no fixed abode, admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis and was jailed for 14 months.

He faces deportation after his release from prison.