A BROTHER and sister who ran a cannabis farm from the spare bedroom in the house they shared have been spared jail.

Benjamin and Lucy Grundy pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and extracting electricity after the raid at their home in Queen Victoria Road, Blackburn.

Officers from Lancashire Police searched the property to find 30 plants growing in a bedroom with sophisticated lighting to increase the plants’ yield.

Benjamin admitted he had set up the cannabis for for his own use and his sister had simply allowed him to do so.

However, on occasions she would help by switching on the lights or watering the plants as required.

Preston Crown Court heard Benjamin, 23, had started smoking cannabis at the age of 13 and had been a heavy user since.

However last year he started suffering anxiety which left him unable to work.

Without the income to fund his cannabis addiction he turned to cultivation at the home he shared with Lucy, 25, in Blackburn.

Judge Anthony Lancaster, sentencing, said: “You were joint tenants at the house.

“Benjamin Grundy accepts he was the instigator of it’s creation and that he was the prime mover in relation to it and that you, Lucy Grundy, allowed him to carry on that enterprise in the premises.

“You, Benjamin Grundy, have to take the greater responsibility and your role is significant.

“You Lucy Grundy have a much lesser role.

“The ill effects of cannabis can be demonstrated only too clearly in your case Benjamin as you appear to have suffered mental health difficulties and have suffered a serious bout of depressive disorder and symptoms of anxiety that have left you unable to work.

“I cannot say that all of that is attributable to your cannabis use but chances are it won’t have helped and may be a factor.

“That simply underlines the danger of cannabis and the reason why courts take matters in relation to production or supply quite seriously.”

Judge Lancaster said he had no doubt some of the cannabis would have found its way onto the streets although analysis of the pair’s mobile phones revealed no evidence of dealing.

Lucy Grundy was handed a community order with 12 months supervision and a 30-day rehabilitation requirement.

Benjamin Grundy was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, with a 30-day rehabilitation requirement.