Alastair James Lagadu (25), of Le Marais, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs and a separate charge of breaching a community service order by going to Prague for a weekend after he had told Probation officers he was visiting his father.
Centenier Tony Batho said that police officers, accompanied by a drugs dog, carried out the search on the afternoon of Wednesday 8 November and found a white box that contained a block of a resinous substance that was later found to be 95.97g of cannabis.
The Magistrate’s Court heard that Lagadu was at work at the time of the raid and voluntarily went to the States police headquarters to say that the drugs belonged to him.
Mr Batho told the court that the defendant’s partner denied any knowledge of the drugs.
Lagadu had twice breached the terms of probation and community service orders.
Advocate Adam Harrison, defending, said that Lagadu was well aware that he had left the court with limited options and he understood the impact that a jail sentence would have on his family.
The community order which he breached had been imposed for committing an assault on a man in the smoking area of the Havana nightclub in the early hours of 18 March last year.
Advocate Harrison said that his client used the drugs to relax and tackle insomnia.
Referring to the breach of the community service order by travelling to Prague, Advocate Harrison said that the defendant had anticipated that he would have completed the hours before the trip but had not done so because of the demands on his time.
‘He accepts that he had lied to Probation but he had never been on such a trip with friends before and he was desperate to do so,’ said the lawyer.
Advocate Harrison said that Lagadu worked for a firm that built timber-framed housing and had been saving up and doing extra hours so that he could provide for his partner if he went to prison.
In sentencing, Magistrate Bridget Shaw said: ‘Community service is a direct alternative to custody. You breached the order twice, and on one occasion you admitted that it was a calculated breach by having your weekend away.’
She added that the defendant chose to buy a ‘considerable amount’ of cannabis and to continue offending.
‘You found £700 to spend on drugs. You chose to do that, and you will pay the price,’ she said.
