A drugs 'gardener' from Vietnam who cultivated cannabis for organised criminals has been jailed - but could be allowed to stay in the country.

Duong Nguyencor, 31, is the fifth Vietnamese national to be jailed this year for running cannabis factories in houses in Oxford.

Police caught Nguyen hiding in a loft after officers smelled cannabis wafting from a house in Brasenose Driftway, Cowley, last June.

Inside the drug factory, they found four rooms filled with cannabis plants being cultivated using a sophisticated lighting and ventilation system.

Recorder Andrew McCooey jailed Nguyen for 18 months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, but said he would not ask for a deportation order.

The court heard Nguyen - who earned £480 for cultivating the drugs for a month - feared for his life if he was sent back home.

Tony McGregor, prosecuting, told the hearing police found 139 plants, cannabis leaves and gardening equipment strewn across the floor of bedrooms.

He added: "Officers had heard movement inside the house but nobody answered their requests to open the front door. Eventually the defendant was found in the loft, hidden in a box."

Nguyen told police he had been at the house for only four weeks in a bid to make some money, Mr McGregor told the court.

He added: "This is clearly a very sophisticated operation presumably run by organised criminals.

"There is no suggestion this man is any more than the gardener.

"But it does appear he would have continued to grow the plants as long as possible."

Natalie Thomas, defending, said Nguyen was cultivating the cannabis for drugs gangs to pay back up to £3,000 gambling debts.

Nguyen fled his native Vietnam in 2003 fearing for his life because his family took part in demonstrations against the government, the court heard.

Miss Thomas added some of Nguyen's relatives had 'disappeared' and he feared he could be killed if he was sent home He applied for asylum in 2003 but was rejected, and had now appealed.

Jailing Nguyen, the Recorder told him: "You were caught in the act. You tried to hide up in the loft.

"You were growing these plants not for yourself but you received about £500 reward for doing this."

He added no deportation order would be imposed but the case would be left in the hands of the Home Office.