A CROWN court judge has become the second senior figure in the judiciary to condemn the devastating impact of cannabis on lives.

Jailing a man for involvement with a commercial-scale cannabis farm in St Helens, Judge Thomas Teague at Liverpool Crown Court said: “Anyone who takes cannabis is rotting their brain.”

His stark message came a fortnight after His Honour Judge Everett, speaking at the same court, handed lengthy jail terms to three St Helens men for a vicious street attack, described the Class B drug as “evil”.

In the case, overseen by Judge Teague, the court heard when police raided a rented flat in Knowsley Road in March last year, they found four rooms had been converted into a cannabis farm.

Experts estimated the potential yield of almost 10 kilos to have a street value of up to £192,000.

Leslie Haury, 42, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis on the basis that he had been asked by others to mind the plants, although he was not involved in growing them.

Forensic experts found Haury’s fingerprints on a seed tray, plastic sheeting, bin bags, beer cans and other items.

Haury, of Austin Avenue, Thatto Heath. claimed he had been invited to the flat by a man he met in a pub but knew nothing about cannabis plants.

Sentencing him to 21 months imprisonment, the judge said only a custodial sentence was justified.

The term was reduced because of the ill-health of Haury’s parents, who he lives with and looks after.

Earlier this month, Judge Everett condemned cannabis as he sentenced three men for an attack in Sutton Manor that left a father-of-three with fractured eye sockets and severe bruising.

After hearing one of the attackers had a history of cannabis use, the judge said: “It’s an evil drug – one that causes mental health problems.”