A MAN allegedly responsible for the mixing and packaging of banned legal highs denied that he knew they were illegal, a court heard.

Christian White was giving evidence during the second week of a trial into the distribution of drugs from a Farnworth industrial unit.

The court heard that White was primarily responsible for using machinery to mix different chemicals to produce the drugs, which were then sold online and around the world.

Some of the drugs, given names such as "heaven" and "jolly blue pearls", were banned as a result of a change in the law in April 2010 and promised to have effects similar to cocaine, ketamine or amphetamine.

Taking the dock, White was given documents by prosecutor Francis McEntee, showing mixes and chemicals used which were mixed to produce drugs.

However White said he did not conduct the research into how the elements would be mixed, and claimed that he just carried out the mixing on the orders of Sheena Jessop, one of the co-accused.

White told the jury: "She was the one that did all the research. She just gave me the information, and that's when I mixed it."

Mr McEntee put it to White that he would knew the packages were illegal, because of his role in the process.

But White said: "I did not know they were illegal."

The jury also heard that about the "secretive" way in which operations were run from Drake Mill, in Bloomfield Road, with a limited number of people knowing about what happened there. and that packages were not delivered directly to the unit.

White said that Netta Hymanson, another of the co-accused, told him that it was that way for "security reasons".

He said: "She just said the less people who knew where it is the better, for security reasons. She said if people knew there were legal highs in it, it would get robbed.

"I didn't really question it at the time."

Michaela Doyle, aged 44, of Croft Street, Salford; Ian Mercer, aged 47, of Birch Road, Walkden; Aaran White, aged 22, of Croft Street, Salford and Christian White, aged 39, of Nelson Street, Salford, all deny conspiracy to supply drugs.

Paula White, aged 46, of Stafford Road, Eccles, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class B drugs.

Rudie Chiu, aged 26, of Hornbeam Way, Manchester; Netta Hymanson, aged 64, of Circular Road, Prestwich; Sheena Jessop, aged 47, of Grants Lane, Ramsbottom, were previously found guilty of conspiring to supply class B drugs.

The trial continues.