Farmer faces prison for weed

Farmer Junior Matthias, 31, of North Union, must come up with $3,200 in two weeks or he will spend the next nine months at her Majesty’s Prisons.{{more}}

Chief Magistrate Sonya Young fined Matthias on Monday, February 9, at the Serious Offences Court after he pleaded guilty to having 2,724 grams of cannabis in his possession at Layou.

The Court heard that on Friday, February 6, Rapid Response Unit (RRU) officers were on patrol duty when they stopped the vehicle in which Matthias was travelling.

Matthias, the father of one, was sitting in the passenger seat behind the driver, with a green bag on his lap. The bag was searched in his presence, and a black plastic bag containing three taped packages was discovered. The packages were cut open and they were found to contain what appeared to be marijuana.

Magistrate Young questioned Matthias about what he was going to do with the illegal substance. He said it was for his personal use and he had “taped it up to prevent it from getting damaged.” (VM)