A WORKER arrested as he fled from a 'massive' and illegal cannabis factory in Carlisle has been jailed for 20 months.

At the city's crown court, a jury rejected the claim of 31-year-old Vietnamese national Hai Dimh that he was forced to work at the secret cannabis farm in Durranhill, a few minutes walk away from Carlisle's Police HQ.

The defendant claimed that the criminal gang bosses who were behind the commercial scale operation threatened to kill him if he tried to leave.

A two-day trial heard that the operation was discovered by chance last July after an electrician was sent to investigate an electricity supply issue at the Telford Road warehouse, a short walk from the city's Police HQ.

Inside the unit, police found almost 1,200 cannabis plants, with a street value of just over £200,000. Two men have already admitted their role in the operation but Dimh - arrested as he tried to flee from warehouse - claimed he was compelled to work there.

The jury declared him guilty of conspiring to produce the class B drug.

Passing sentence, Recorder Richard Archer told the defendant: "It's clear you were not the organiser of this operation.

"But you played a part in it."

The judge said that the defendant's claim that he had been "forced" to take part in the cannabis growing operation did not stand up to scrutiny but he accepted that Dimh had played a "limited role" and he was acting under direction.

The court heard that the defendant - who was in the country illegally - had been cleared of a similar allegation in 2017.

Referring to the Carlisle offence, the Recorder added: "It's incomprehensible that you didn't know that this was cannabis production on a massive scale."

The court heard that because of the time Dimh, of Eskdale Avenue, Oldham, has spent in custody it is likely he will be released in a month or so. He is then likely to be deported back to Vietnam by the Home Office.

The trial was told that the warehouse was found to be fully equipped with living quarters for the operation’s workers - including sleeping facilities and a kitchen with food.

Inside the building, police found a large marquee style tent, and under this, 1,172 cannabis plants in various stages of maturity were growing.

The gang had diverted electrical wires to illegally power their heating and lighting systems. When arrested, the defendant was carrying two mobile phones.