A 13-YEAR-OLD caught with £1,300-worth of cannabis was given the drugs by his mother's ex-boyfriend, a court heard yesterday.

The teenager ran away from home following an argument with his mother and went to stay with her former boyfriend in London.

The court heard that the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admired the older man.

The court was told that when the youth returned to Darlington, the man gave him the drugs, consisting of about 1.2 kilos of cannabis resin and 15.2 grams of cannabis bush, to sell on, promising him a share of the profits.

Defence solicitor Zoe Passfield said the youth "had absolutely no comprehension of the value of the drugs or of the reality of what he was involving himself in".

He was caught with the drugs after plain clothes police stopped him in October last year.

Ms Passfield told magistrates in Darlington that though the youngster first claimed to have stolen the drugs he later came to realise he had been manipulated by the older man.

The youth pleaded guilty to being in possession of the drugs with intent to supply and was given a nine-month referral order by magistrates.