TWO men who used a friend's home as a base for their drug dealing have been spared a prison sentence.

Andrew Ingram "turned a blind eye" to the activities of friends Daniel McLaren and Ryan Alborn, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 22-year-old was said to have been "paid" in cannabis for letting the pair use his home in Stockton for their illegal trade.

When police raided the flat, in Consett Close, in September last year, they recovered drugs worth nearly £1,400, the court was told.

McLaren, 21, and Alborn, 20, were there at the time and were arrested, and Ingram was also arrested when he arrived home later.

The court was told McLaren tried to flush a bag of cannabis leaf down the toilet when officers burst into the property.

The stash was recovered from the U-bend and more bagged drugs were found hidden in a suitcase in a bedroom cupboard.

Rod Hunt, for Ingram, told the court: "He turned a blind eye to his flat being used so he could be sorted out with cannabis."

He was given a two-year community order with Probation Service supervision and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, said Ingram was "put upon", and told him: "You were weak in allowing that."

McLaren, of Hume House, Stockton, was given a ten month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with supervision.

The judge also ordered him to do 300 hours of unpaid work after hearing he, unlike his friend, had a criminal record.

McLaren's barrister, Chris Moran, told the court he was trying to find work as a bricklayer to support his young daughter.

Mr Moran said he became frustrated at being unable to get a job and saw selling cannabis as an easy way to make money.

Rachel Dyson, for Alborn, of Low Grange Avenue, Billingham, said he was a heavy user who supplied his friends.

She told the court he has since moved away from "bad influences" and accepted that he needed to be punished.

Alborn, who was given a community order with two years of supervision, was said to have taken steps to address his lifestyle.