Shirebrook man had £500 worth of cannabis stashed away 'to keep him going over Christmas'

Police entered the property where Carlton Bernard had been living at the time, in Church Drive, Shirebrook, and discovered the drugs on January 7 this year, Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court was told on Friday, July 31.

However, there were no bags or scales found with the almost 90 grammes of Class B drug, and it was accepted that the cannabis was for the 36-year-old’s personal use, said Sarah Haslam, prosecuting.

“Police went to the property looking for drugs and the amount they discovered was worth approximately £540 in value. He said it was for his own personal use and he spends about £20 per day on cannabis.”

Mitigating, Ben Brown told the court: “There’s no suggestion that he was dealing. He bought in bulk to keep himself going over the Christmas period. It’s caused him to be in debt to the people who sold it to him because he had not paid for the cannabis in full.”

He said that Bernard had been forced to move to the Nottingham area to escape the dealers.

Magistrates fined Bernard, who admitted possession of a Class B drug when he appeared, £120 and ordered him to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

They also ordered that the drugs be forfeited and destroyed.

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