Hien had been promised a jail term as part of a 3 million dong (HK$1,500) deal with a snakehead before he fled Vietnam.

He was arrested on July 5 at the Man Kam To checkpoint after he was discovered clinging to the underside of a truck.

Hien yesterday sought permission to interrupt during the judge's sentencing and declared that it would be unfair to send him home while other Vietnamese illegal immigrants were sent to jail.

'If the judge sends me back, then how come the others get to stay and do not have to join me in being sent back?' he asked. It was the fourth such case in less than two months to come before the District Court.

Three men were given sentences of 27 and 28 months last month.

Judge Sweeney said in sentencing that he was tempted to send Hien straight back to Vietnam to discourage others in his village from doing the same thing.

But he added it would be unfair to all the other illegal immigrants who had been jailed to send Hien back.

In what Judge Sweeney described as the 'Two-Bullet Tour', travel packages are being arranged in Vietnam for young men to illegally enter Hong Kong through the mainland carrying two bullets and a knife, ensuring that when they are caught, they will serve prison sentences, enabling them to earn wages for prison labour along with free food and shelter.

Earlier in the hearing, Hien told the court it was not true that he had entered Hong Kong illegally for the sole purpose of going to prison here.

'I wanted to find a job and use my hard work to earn a living here, but if I was to be caught, I could just go to jail and earn money there,' he said adding that the 22.5cm knife and two bullets were included in the snakehead package.

'When all the young people in my home town would hang out and chit chat, it was mentioned that some people, when they snuck into Hong Kong, brought bullets so that in the unfortunate case that they were arrested, they could go to prison for a longer time and earn some money.

'As I snuck into Hong Kong, I do not wish to be sent back right away. It was not easy for me to come here in the first place so I hope to make enough money to at least cover the cost of my travel.'

Judge Sweeney said: 'I've heard of four-star tours - this was a two-bullet tour ... you could either get a paying job or a decent spell of prison time.'

The judge noted that Hien and others were 'obviously playing the system'.

The court heard prisoners can earn $100 a week.