Man avoids punishment after being found with 'extremely small' amount of cannabis by police officers

A man found with a tiny amount of cannabis after a car stop in Easington Lane should have been cautioned not prosecuted, his solicitor told a court.

Defender Robin Ford said Lewis Jeavons, 33, would have been better served with a ticking off by police, warned about his future conduct – and sent on his way.

Instead Jeavons, of Durham Road, Leadgate, Co Durham, was hauled into court for possession of an amount of the illegal drug even prosecutors admitted was minuscule.

Magistrates heard Jeavons was a passenger in a car pulled over in South Hetton Road when flagged up for checks by the police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) computer system on Wednesday, March 29.

Mr Ford said the defendant immediately confessed to officers he had the drug and reached into his pocket and handed it over.

He told magistrates in South Tyneside: “He was using a small amount of cannabis for pain relief.

“I’m pleased to say he has seen his GP and is using an agency and they have prescribed a CBD substitute.”

Referring to prosecutor Ruth Foster, Mr Ford added: “What my friend and I struggle with is why a man, who has nothing on his record for this and admitted that he had the cannabis straight away, wasn’t given a cannabis warning.

“That’s what the warnings are there for, to stop this kind of thing clogging up the courts. Why this has had to come to court is beyond me and my friend.”

Jeavons, who has 11 previous criminal convictions from 14 offences, and was last before a court in 2021, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis.

Mrs Foster told the hearing: “It’s a straightforward matter. Police on marked patrol had their attention drawn to a vehicle which had an ANPR hit for no insurance.

“The defendant was the front seat passenger and told officers he had a small amount of cannabis, which was taken from his jacket pocket.

“He admitted the cannabis was for personal use. When I say it was an extremely small amount, it was a small amount.”

Magistrates sentenced Jeavons to an absolute discharge.

Gary Cracknell, chair of the bench, told him: “Although you are guilty of this offence, we don’t think that you need to be punished, because it was a very small amount.

“A record of your conviction will be kept.”