A COUPLE whose home was at the centre of a shooting drama have appeared in court on drugs and firearms charges.

Malcom White, aged 62, and Josephine Merrick, 59, both pleaded guilty to producing a controlled class B drug when they appeared at Hereford Crown Court.

White, a retired Birmingham watchmaker, and Merrick were arrested in October after police discovered a large quantity of cannabis at their smallholding in Whitbourne on the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border.

Officers attended the couple’s isolated rural farm in October after reports that an intruder had been shot.

It was during a search of the property that 50 cannabis plants were discovered.

Yesterday White, of Whitbourne, was remanded in custody.

He also pleaded guilty to 11 offences related to the ownership of firearms but denied three others in relation to possession of shotgun cartridges and live rounds of ammunition.

Merrick, now of Leigh Sinton, was granted bail.

The pair will be sentenced at a later date.

Nobody has been charged in connection with the shooting.