TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD old Chetram Bassant was, yesterday, fined $10,000 and ordered to do one day a week community service until May 28 for narcotic possession.Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, who imposed the penalty, warned the convict that, in the alternative, he would be jailed for six weeks.
When he appeared at New Amsterdam Court, in Berbice, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) employee said, due to his asthmatic condition, he would use cannabis sativa (ganja) to alleviate the chronic disorder.
Bassant pleaded guilty to the offence.
Police Sergeant Godfrey Playter, prosecuting, said, last April 4, the defendant was standing at the street corner in Betsy Ground, East Canje and seen, by a policeman on patrol, acting suspiciously.
The suspect was stopped and, when searched, was found with a quantity of seeds, leaves and stems of the hemp plant in his right hand.