A TEENAGER whose parents described him as a ‘loving and caring son’ when he was found with cannabis at his Ribble Valley school repaid their support by stealing from them to fund his habit.

Blackburn magistrates heard the 15-year-old boy was before the court in January after the headmaster of Bowland High School called in the police when he was caught with cannabis on school premises.

In court it was claimed that most people his age he came into contact with were users of the drug. He said he used about £40 worth every week and said he didn’t think it was wrong and he would continue to smoke cannabis.

He was back before the same court and pleaded guilty to stealing £10 and £50 from his mother using her bank card and stealing a £240 camera belonging to his father. The magistrates extended a referral order imposed in January by five months.

At the court appearance in January the solicitor representing the boy said his parents regarded him as a “loving and caring son.”

He committed the thefts two weeks after the court appearance and Simon Farnsworth, defending, said the decision to report the thefts to the police had been “difficult and traumatic” for the boy’s parents.

“This was one of a number of incidents that finally persuaded them to put it before the courts,” said Mr Farnsworth. “He still has the full support of his parents.”