A VIETNAMESE man who claimed he was trafficked to the UK and forced to water the plants by gangsters to pay off a £300m gambling debt has been found guilty.

Nam Nguyen, of no fixed abode, was on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with one count of cultivating 272 cannabis plants on October 9 last year in Abingdon.

With the help of a Vietnamese interpreter, the 37-year-old told a jury on Thursday (April 11) he had got himself in £300m in debt while living in his hometown of Nghe An.

READ MORE: 'Gangsters trafficked me to grow cannabis after £300m gambling debt,' trial hears

He said that gangsters proposed to bring him to the UK to work for them and pay off his debt.

However, he claimed he did not know the work would be growing cannabis.

When asked why he never tried to escape or call the police, Nguyen claimed he was ‘too scared’ as the gangsters had threatened to kill him.

He cried on the stand while giving evidence in his trial.

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However, a jury found that Nguyen was lying and found him guilty.

He was sentenced at the end of last week in the same court for 15 months imprisonment.

It was also heard that Nguyen is now liable to deportation.

A forfeiture and destruction order was also made for the drugs and paraphernalia seized.