A man has been fined £70 for being caught smoking a cannabis joint in a park in Barking.

Kevin Leon Coryat, 33, of Upton Park Lane in Forest Gate, pleaded guilty to possession of the drug at Barkingside Magistrates Court yesterday.

Officers on patrol saw Coryat smoking cannabis in Abbey Green on June 17, when he handed over the joint, which he said was for his personal use.

Coryat, speaking in his own defence, said: “It was wrong to have any cannabis in my possession. I admitted to the police that I was doing something wrong.”

The Judge ordered him to pay a £70 fine plus £85 court costs, a total of £175, in the next 28 days.

Possession of cannabis, a class B drug, is a crime under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

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