Three jailed two years each over 2,803-plant Macclesfield factory
Three Vietnamese nationals were jailed for two years each at Chester Crown Court over a 2,803-plant cannabis factory worth £868,571 at Melville House in Macclesfield, raided in September 2010; two other men held in the raid were cleared at trial, and all five faced deportation.
🇬🇧 Melville House, Queen's Avenue, Hurdsfield, Macclesfield · United Kingdom
Three Vietnamese nationals arrested in a raid on a cannabis factory at Melville House on the Hurdsfield industrial estate were jailed after admitting production of a class B drug at Chester Crown Court on 17 August.[1]Anh Cong Hoai, 19, Minh Viet Dinh, 34, and Cong Khac Nguyen, 18, each received two years in prison, and all three faced deportation after serving their sentences.[1]
Officers had found the factory, holding 2,803 cannabis plants with a potential street value of £868,571, when they raided the Queen’s Avenue building in September 2010 and detained five Vietnamese men trying to escape through the roof, calling in a police helicopter and fire engines.[1]Mac Van Do, 34, and a 16-year-old detained with them denied the charge and were found not guilty after a three-day trial at the same court, telling the jury they had paid agents for passage to Britain and believed the gardening work would be ordinary farm labour.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Darren Davis, 39, a homeless man, and his partner Catherine Evans, 36, were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court in November 2026 for dealing 'spice' and a small cannabis quantity. Police found Davis carrying six bags of spice worth up to £750 on 2 June, and later searches of his hostel, a storage unit and Evans' home uncovered more drugs and thousands of pounds in cash.
Joel Niven, 20, of Walney near Barrow-in-Furness, was convicted of cannabis possession after officers recovered a sealed bag from him at Barrow Park. Magistrates fined him £80, ordered £117 in costs and surcharge, and sought forfeiture of the drugs. He had a previous caution for cannabis possession from December 2025.
Rorie Jeffs, 25, of Aylesbury, was found guilty of possession of cannabis at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay £85 plus a further £26 surcharge. He was one of the most recent cases concluded at the court as reported in the 10 November 2026 round-up.
Three men were each jailed for four years over a large-scale cannabis factory in Greenock's former Tobacco Warehouse, raided in June 2025 with more than 1,000 plants. Ariel Ruko has appealed his sentence, with a hearing due at the High Court in Edinburgh on 17 November 2026.
