A Vietnamese man who said he thought the cannabis farm he was tending was cooking herbs wept with joy and bowed to the jury when he was yesterday cleared of any wrongdoing.

Phu Pham, 43, denied production of cannabis at a property in Nurser Place, Little Horton, on September 23. He told police he thought the crop was for a restaurant menu and sobbed when he was arrested at the house.

Pham answered the door to police who heard a whirring noise and detected a strong smell of cannabis.

He showed them to a corner of the living room where 70 skunk cannabis plants were concealed under the floor behind a black curtain.

If split into street deals, the yield could have sold on for up to £27,000. The electricity supply had been bypassed to power the factory. Pham said he paid 8,000 US dollars to be smuggled into the UK from Russia.