Albouystown man jailed over ganja found during home raid

A man was yesterday sentenced to 12 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to having cannabis, which was found in his house during a police search.

John Beaton, 50, of Lot 55 Albouys Street, Albouystown, was also fined $10,000 for possession of the drug when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Beaton, however, denied that ¼ gramme of cocaine was also found during the search and will face a trial on the separate cocaine possession charge.

Prosecutor Deniro Jones told Magistrate Ann McLennan that on August 10, at 6:30am, police ranks were conducting searches around Georgetown and they went to Beaton’s home.

Jones said Beaton invited the police ranks into his home after he was informed that they were there to conduct a search. He added that while searching in Beaton’s kitchen, a bulky black plastic bag was found in the sink.

Police ranks opened the bag in Beaton’s presence, Jones said, and they discovered money along with a transparent plastic bag with a cream coloured substance inside and twelve white paper parcels containing leaves, seeds and stems believed to be cannabis.

As a result, Beaton was told of the offences and taken to Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he was charged.

While Beaton was sentenced and fined for having possession of cannabis, he was given a September 11 return date for the next hearing on the cocaine possession charge.