A man was slammed with a £150 bill after being caught with a class B drug for the second time in two years.
Manzeidi Mbala, 31, pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and was ordered to pay a £75 fine plus £75 court costs and surcharge.
Barkingside magistrates heard how Mbala, of Morris Road, Leyton, was caught with five plastic self-seal bags of cannabis while on Station Parade in Barking on July 27.
Defending, Imran Ali asked whether Mbala could be dealt with by conditional discharge and explained: “His circumstances must be considered as he is currently homeless.
“He has recently set up his own window cleaning service and gets £50 a week but it has only been running for two weeks.”
District judge Gary Lucie explained he’d happily give a conditional discharge but said: “You can’t keep handling drugs, the more you do it the more serious the penalty will get.
“However, because of your financial situation I’ll keep it to a minimum.”
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