Special service: The 72-year-old milkman who delivered cannabis with the daily pinta



Special deliveries: Milkman Robert Holding said he only dealt cannabis to pensioners with with 'aches and pains'

Robert Holding was the sort of milkman who always liked to help his customers - particularly the elderly ones.



So if they left him a little note asking for something extra, he tried to get it for them.



But some of their requests went beyond the usual dozen eggs or bottle of orange juice.



Holding, 72, has admitted supplying cannabis to some of his older customers.



He was caught placing small bars of cannabis resin into empty egg cartons, and leaving them on doorsteps.



When he was confronted by police, Holding told officers he would only ever supply pensioners with the drug to help them with their 'aches and pains'.



Cannabis has been shown in studies to help ease pain in arthritis and other conditions.



But a judge told the elderly milkman his special delivery service would inevitably lead to a spell behind bars.



Burnley Crown Court has heard that Holding only delivered to pensioners on his delivery round who had found out about his extra service by word of mouth.



The grandfather had 17 drug customers who would regularly ask for cannabis.



Police said that the customers would leave out handwritten notes with their empty milk bottles requesting him to leave the Class C drugs with his next delivery.



Acting on information, police launched an undercover operation and watched him as he delivered milk on his regular round over several weeks.



Finally they arrested the pensioner at his home in Burnley, Lancashire. During a search of the house, officers found 167 grams of the Class C drug.



In a police interview Holding accepted he had supplied cannabis resin to 17 households while on his milk delivery round.



Holding appeared in court charged with two counts of supplying and possessing the drug between April 1 and July 18 this year.



Wearing blue jeans and a scruffy dark jersey, Holding pleaded guilty to the charges.



Phil Holden, defending, told the court: 'The defendant, in police interview, mentioned who he dealt to. He said it was for elderly people with aches and pains.



'Those who he supplied, and there were not many, were through word of mouth and his customers were all of a certain age.'



Mr Holden said the grandfather supplied a small bar of cannabis to his regular customers every three to four weeks.



Adjourning the case, Judge Beverley Lunt said that Holding, who has previous convictions but none for drug dealing, faced an inevitable jail sentence.



Judge Lunt said: ' You must understand these are serious offences and in my judgment the likely outcome is an immediate custodial sentence.'



The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report. Holding was released on bail and will be sentenced at Burnley Crown Court on February 6.



Studies suggest that cannabis and cannabis-based medicines can provide effective pain relief for those suffering from illnesses.



It is also thought to help fight nausea and vomiting in the advanced stages of cancer and AIDS.



Campaigners also claim that the drug can be useful in treating asthma, strokes, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.



A House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has recommended its use for medicinal purposes.

