‘Don’t get on this slippery slope’: 18-year-old caught with drugs in town park

An 18-year-old who was caught with Class B drugs in a town park has been warned to get off a “slippery slope”.

Povilas Zemlianskis, of Highfield in Lynn, appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday charged with possession of cannabis.

He pleaded guilty to the offence, which he committed on February 1 this year. When walking through The Walks on that date at around midday, he was stopped by police officers using powers under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Crown prosecutor Holly Postle told the court that a quantity of cannabis was found in Zemlianskis’ underwear, and he was subsequently arrested before a search was carried out at his home address.

In total, police uncovered 30g of the drug.

At the time, Zemlianskis had committed no previous offences – but had been handed a conditional caution for possession of cannabis.

Mitigating, Andrew Cogan made reference to the police officers who arrested Zemlianskis, saying they are part of Lynn Police’s drugs enforcement team.

“When I saw the witness list, I thought it was the usual suspects,” the solicitor said.

“The sergeants go around town for their work with a great deal of zest.”

Mr Cogan said Zemlianskis had been walking through the park with a friend when he was approached by officers, and believes they must have been tipped off by some form of intelligence.

He argued that Zemlianskis having cannabis stored in his underwear should have no bearing on the case because he surrendered it immediately when asked to.

Magistrates, led by Paul Redhead, handed the defendant a six-month conditional discharge for his offence.

He will also pay £50 in legal costs and a £26 victim surcharge, while an order was made for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

Mr Redhead said: “We did take into account that you are 18 years of age.

“We don’t want you to get on this slippery life, so we are going to give you an opportunity to decide where you want to go with this.

“Basically, the ball is now in your court. It is up to you, what you want to do.

“You are free to go, and we don’t want to see you back again.”