New trial date for Vietnamese pair arrested in raid on big Hartlepool cannabis farm

Co Hoang, 43, and woman Lan Nguyen, 37, are charged with producing the Class B drug at a house in Thornton Street between January 3 and April 3 this year.

Hundreds of plants worth thousands of pounds were reportedly found growing over three floors when police raided the property in April.

Hoang and Nguyen, of no fixed address, were due to stand trial on the matter at Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday, October 7.

But it has been moved to Tuesday, December 1, as Home Office enquiries into claims the pair were trafficked to the UK and kept prisoner in the property are ongoing.

They claim they were kept against their will and were unable to leave the house.

Both defendants have been held in custody since their arrest.

The trial is expected to take two to three days.

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