A boy of 15 from Vietnam has been locked up for weeks and the only time he has anyone to talk to is when he goes to court and there’s an interpreter, Llandudno youth court heard today.

Magistrates were told about his lonely existence and a defence solicitor protested that the boy was being kept in limbo because of delays by social services.

The court adjourned the case for a fortnight and requested that when the case resumes a social services manager from Conwy council is present.

The boy pleaded guilty to production of cannabis on November 30 and he was remanded to secure accommodation for a report, with sentence due today. A report and assessment by the youth justice service had been prepared but nothing further could be done because social services had been unable to find anywhere for him to live in the event of a referral order being made.

A woman social worker explained : "We want a long term placement for his needs, not a quick fix." She added that the boy was said to be doing well at the secure accommodation where he was being held in England.

Defence solicitor Nia Dawson said she was appalled that in the weeks since the last hearing nothing had apparently been done to find an address where he could live. There should be an explanation from social services about why a vulnerable boy who was frightened and didn’t know what was happening was allowed to remain at the centre, at a cost of #7,000 a week. He had no family either here nor in Vietnam and before he came to this country was living on the streets for four years. What was happening was not right and one of the managers should come to court next time, she maintained.

The boy has been accused with other Vietnamese, adults, in connection with cannabis factories. The others have been sent to the crown court