A "HEAVY user" set up a £12,000 cannabis farm at his Burnley home with an inheritance, a court was told.

John Parkinson, 49, an ex-heroin addict, had been growing 60 plants in two rooms, with heating and lighting. Parkinson, said to use the drug because of constant pain from liver disease, had bought the equipment and seeds with cash left to him by his late parents, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The hearing was told the defendant claimed he kept his cannabis a secret because teenagers would go round and ‘rob’ him if they found out.

But, police found the farm after they were confronted with a very strong smell of cannabis from outside. They entered the property and discovered two carrier bags containing 7.43 grams of skunk cannabis, worth £743 on the streets, as well as the plants.

Parkinson, who is on benefits, told the hearing he smoked between seven and 10 grams of the drug a day. He said he would have shared some cannabis with his friends if they called round, but never received any money.

The prosecution claimed the defendant, who would potentially have been spending £70 a day on cannabis before he started growing it, was going to sell the drug for financial gain. Parkinson alleged he had no such intention.

A trial over the facts of the case was held and Judge Ian Leeming, QC, found against him.

The judge said he was sure the defendant intended to sell at least some significant part of the crop.

Parkinson, now of Ada Street, Burnley, who is said to have several medical complaints, had admitted producing cannabis and possessing the drug with intent to supply. He was given 12 months in jail, suspended for a year, with a 10 week curfew, between Fridays and Sundays, between 8pm and 8 am.

The defendant had told the court he had started growing cannabis because it was £10 a gram to buy, " a gram will go nowhere," and sometimes he smoked up to 14 grams a day. He said he had received £1,900 from his parents ' estate, had been left with £700 after helping out family and spent about £400 to set up the cannabis growing system.

Richard Taylor, for Parkinson, said he had hepatitis, frailty, liver disease and asthma and he was ‘in constant pain’.