Three Vietnamese gangsters have been jailed to varying terms for beating to death a man they had smuggled in to UK and placed him in charge of a cannabis factory in Wales.

Gang leader gang leader Quynh Van Huynh, 51, was jailed for nine years Monday at Cardiff Crown Court and Thanh Van Le, 31, Cong Van Le, 48, were each jailed for seven years.

It was a case of gangland punishment gone too far, Justice McKinnon said.

Their victim, Tran Nguyen, 44, had been smuggled from Vietnam into the UK in the back of a lorry.

After short stint in Birmingham at a nail bar (such bars offer manicure, pedicure and waxing services), the father of two was sent to a cannabis factory in Keynsham Avenue, Newport, where he became a lone farmer, known as a "ghost."

But within a couple of months when there was a raid on the plant by a rival gang and crop worth £30,000 to £40,000 was stolen. The gang suspected Tran Nguyen could have been a party to it. So they took him away for punishment and thrashed him mercilessly.

The trial heard his wife was telephoned during the ordeal and told by one of the attackers: "Be prepared to collect your husband’s corpse."

He was driven back to south Wales and carried into the Royal Gwent Hospital with broken ribs and a head injury by two men who fled the scene.