A Union Island man was, on Monday, ordered to pay the court EC$800 forthwith and EC$3,700 by Dec. 20 to avoid prison time for marijuana possession.
At the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown, Delroy Warner, of Ashton, Union Island, pleaded guilty to a charge that the had 3,307 grammes (7.29lbs) of cannabis in his possession last Thursday, July 25.
Police went to Warner’s home to execute a search warrant.
He was not at home and police did not locate him where his girlfriend told the police he might have been.
The warrant was then read to the woman, who consented to the search.
Police found the drug on the ground floor of the two-storey house.
The woman denied knowledge of the drug, telling police that it was Warner who dwells in that section of the house.
She was taken into custody and Warner later went to the Union Island Police Station where he told police officers that the drug belongs to him.
“Officer, you hear me tell you the weed you find in the house is mine,” Warner told the police.
He was arrested and charged.
In mitigation, Warner, who is unemployed, told the court that he had the drugs “to stop a financial hole.
“I didn’t mean to put my family through this,” he told the court, adding that he has three children, including an 8-month-old baby.
Warner said he is a labourer and sometimes does barbeque in the Tobago Cays during the tourist season.
He said he also fishes but does not have a boat of his own.
He further said that his girlfriend is unemployed but she sometimes works with her aunt at a mini mart, during busy periods.
Warner said that he was able to come up with EC$800 and Chief Magistrate Rechanne ordered him to pay that amount forthwith or spend two months in jail.
He was ordered to pay the remainder of the EC$4,500 fine by Dec. 20 or spend one year in prison.
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