Cannabis grinder gives the game away

"I thought I'd got away with it," Newbury man tells police

A CANNABIS grinder on the ground gave the game away for Richard James Jupp.

Newbury magistrates heard that, as he was searched and arrested for possessing the drug, the 32-year-old told police: “I thought I’d got away with it.”

Helen Waite, prosecuting on Thursday, July 16, said: “Members of the public reported hearing what they thought was a dog in distress on a green. Officers investigated and saw a bull terrier type dog running round off its lead.”

They were about to leave, the court heard, when they spotted the grinder by the feet of Mr Jupp, who lives at Bodin Gardens, Newbury. Mr Jupp admitted possessing a quantity of the Class B controlled drug on June 16 this year. He also has previous convictions, magistrates were told.

Nadine Colyer, defending, said the cannabis was a small amount, “commensurate with personal use”. She said Mr Jupp used the drug to cope with a traumatic situation regarding his mother’s health. Magistrates made him subject to a six-month conditional discharge. In addition he was required to pay a £150 criminal courts charge plus a statutory surcharge of £15.

No order for costs was made because of his lack of means to pay.