Drugs 'waterer' handed jail term

Police found more than 600 plants in the house in the Borders

A man involved in a £193,000 cannabis farm in the Scottish Borders has been jailed for four years.

Tron Huy Le, 43, admitted producing the drug at a house in Gifford Place, West Linton, between 20 June and 12 July.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard how he had been hired to water more than 600 plants in an "extensive and complex" cannabis cultivation in the premises.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond also recommended that he should be deported back to Vietnam at the end of his sentence.

The court heard the accused had been brought to the UK from Hungary, where he had been working, and agreed to water the plants for £500-a-month.

However, he was caught by police before he ever received a payment - which he intended to send to his family in Vietnam.

Sheriff Drummond said the consequences for those engaging in a production process on such scale must be made clear in an effort to deter others.

He added that the jail term had been reduced as a result of the early guilty plea.