Sunderland man caught with tablets he believed to be prescription only

Darren Trott, 41, gave the unusual reasoning after police found 28 tablets of an unknown substance in his possession on Saturday, September 6.

During the afternoon street check at Southwick Green, Southwick, he told officers the tablets were not his and did not know what they were.

But he also claimed they had been given to him by someone with ill will towards him, prosecutor Warren Ridley told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Ridley said: “It was about 2.42pm when officers had cause to arrest Mr Trott for an unrelated matter.

“They found him to be in possession of what they believed to be 28 tablets of Diazepam.

“He said, ‘They are not mine’. He said that he didn’t know what they were but thought they had been given to him by somebody who was trying to kill him.

“He has 36 previous convictions from 67 offences, including eight for drugs and his last drugs was on May 17 for having class B.

“I think this offence is in the range of a fine, and I would ask for forfeiture and destruction of the tablets.”

Trott pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted possession of class C anxiety drug Diazepam, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The charge relates to his belief that the tablets of an unknown substance were Diazepam.

Chris Wilson, defending, said: “Mr Trott is homeless and gets by day-to-day and sometimes dabbles in drugs.

“He didn’t know what they were. He is paranoid and thought that somebody was going to kill him.

“He doesn’t know what they were, but he was in possession of them and pleads guilty.”

District Judge Zoe Passfield fined Trott £40 and he ordered him to pay a £16 victim surcharge, but there were no court costs.

She also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.