A former drug user claimed he started supplying amphetamines after being attacked in his home by men armed with knives.

Bradley Nicholas White, of Bradshaw Street East, Accrington, pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing to possessing amphetamines with intent to supply.

The 39-year-old was due to be sentenced at Burnley Crown Court this week.

However his case was adjourned for prosecutors to investigate claims that he had been attacked by three men wearing balaclavas and armed with knives at his home.

Defence barrister Martyn Walsh told the court that the incident happened several days before police raided White’s home and found the amphetamines.

The court heard that White had been ‘clean and sober up to the point of the knife attack’ but the incident then ‘led him back to his old habits’.

Mr Walsh said: “That is why he went and bought the drugs. He is a man who is preyed upon by others when they know he is using amphetamines and is known as vulnerable within the local community.”

The case was adjourned to Wednesday, July 25.