Llanelli cleaner had cannabis to deal with anxiety and depression
A CLEANER from Llanelli who was caught with cannabis twice in four days by police says he took the drug to deal with anxiety and depression.
A CLEANER from Llanelli who was caught with cannabis twice in four days by police says he took the drug to deal with anxiety and depression.
Michael John Smeeth, who had a clean record before his appearance at Llanelli Magistrates' Court, said he was determined to tackle the drug use head on.
Smeeth, of New Dock Street, pleaded guilty to having eight grams of herbal cannabis in his possession on July 4.
And just three days later, he was caught again, admitting to having a quantity of the class B drug.
The court heard that during the first incident officers received a report of an unrelated incident when they noticed a strong smell of cannabis from Smeeth's flat.
He was found to be smoking a joint which was seized by police, and the 52-year-old explained he was smoking it to calm his nerves.
During the next incident, the force were looking into a report of noise nuisance at Smeeth's block of flats, and later found the defendant lying in bed with the class B drug.
Mitigating, Steve Lloyd said: "He is 51 years of age and this is his first appearance before the court. He is single and in part time employment as a cleaner doing a couple of hours a week.
"He suffers from anxiety and depression and finds taking cannabis has helped a great deal.''
Magistrates issued Smeeth a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £60 court costs and £15 victim surcharge.
They made an order for forfeit- ure and destruction of the drugs.
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk 14/08/2013
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