A CHARD man found with thousands of pounds worth of cannabis lying around his home has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Molly Alcindor said he had been using the drug since the age of nine and its use for health reasons, for cooking and making tea, as well as recreational smoking, was entrenched in his home culture in St Lucia.

When police seized the varying amounts of the drug it was analysed and found to be a total of more than 1.7kg with an estimated street value of around £17,000.

Further examination by police of his address, along with mobile phone records, did not reveal any evidence that the defendant had been involved in supplying the drug to other people.

When he appeared before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil he said he believed the drug had been grown locally but he had not paid anything for it.

Alcindor, 44, of Fairway Rise, pleaded guilty to being in possession of 1,716g of cannabis (class B) at Chard on December 16 last year.

Lucy Coleman, prosecuting, told the court at Yeovil that police went to the defendant’s home and found the “huge” quantity of cannabis.

In a statement given to the police Alcindor said he was a heavy cannabis user and smoked it for health reasons and had been using it medicinally since the age of nine.

“He used it to make green tea for his asthma and for cooking and also smoked it for recreation and it helped with his rheumatism,” she said.

“He said he did not sell it or share it with anyone else and some of it was in bags for his own convenience as he sometimes took it with him when he went out. He said he believed it was grown locally but did not pay for it.”

Following analysis of the drug the court was told that with an average daily consumption of the drug it would take between five and 10 years to use the amount found at Alcindor’s home.

Defending solicitor Gareth Webb said that his client was originally from St Lucia and was a familiar figure around Chard and had his own car valeting business.

“He is a Rastafarian, is an optimistic person and does not really drink alcohol, but after being charged with possession of cannabis there was no evidence that he was selling drugs to anyone,” he said.

“He just uses a lot of cannabis and from the age of nine took it with his father in St Lucia and it was part of their religious rights and is used in a very different way than in this country."

“It was smoked, used in tea and cooking and as a herb and medicine, and that is why there was so much of it and he had it all around the house and showed the police when they arrived.”

He said that Alcindor suffered from sciatica, rheumatism and stomach problems and believed that cannabis gave him assistance with those conditions.

“Cleary this has been an eye-opening experience and he has never had any involvement with the law before and is now seeking other alternatives through his GP,” he added.

The magistrates told Alcindor it had been “a huge amount of cannabis” and sentenced him to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

In that time He must carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community, and was also ordered to pay £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

They also issued a destruction order for the cannabis.