Smoking cannabis in parked car wins prize for stupidity, says judge

The 56-year-old, who had previously given an address of 2, Hillside, Mont Morin, St Sampson’s, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing cannabis resin and one count of possessing cannabis.

The Royal Court heard a police officer was near the Piette Hotel when he saw two men in a parked vehicle smoking hand-rolled cigarettes. The window was wound down and the officer could smell cannabis.

Both men were detained. The other man was dealt with in the Magistrate’s Court.

At about noon, police went to Hearn’s home and found two large blocks of cannabis resin, as well various quantities of cannabis and cannabis resin. A check of Hearn’s vehicle also revealed another quantity of cannabis resin.

In total, 192.43g of the drug was recovered with a street value of between £3,848 and £5,772.

In police interview, Hearn said the drug had been for his own use and that he was a regular user.

Defence advocate Catherine Fooks said her client suffered a serious injury in a hit-and-run accident in 1998 and used the cannabis to cope with his pain.

She asked the court to note that while Hearn had a large quantity of the drug in his possession, it had been for personal use and he used it on an almost daily basis. He had no plan to supply the drug to others.

Judge Russell Finch said it beggared belief that a man of Hearn’s age and responsibility could be smoking weed in the middle of the morning in a public place. He said it was the sort of stupid behaviour he would expect to see from a teenager.

‘If there was a prize for stupidity, then you would win it,’ he said.

However, he said the Jurats had decided to take a merciful course.

The community service will run concurrently for each of the cannabis resin charges. The fine was for the cannabis charge.