A man who “got in the wrong crowd” as a teenager admitted to having more than £300 worth of cocaine hid behind a sofa.
Benjamin Bayfield, 20, admitted to having class A and class B drugs in his possession and was subsequently sent to Lynn’s Magistrates’ Court to receive his punishment.
Prosecutor Colette Harper outlined the case to magistrates on Thursday and said that on May 29, 2022, police conducted a search at a property in Fakenham.
Behind a sofa, officers found white powder and crystals which were in packaging.
It was later discovered that the bags contained £336.40 worth of cocaine and and £13.40 worth of ketamine.
Bayfield, of Oxwick Road, Dereham, had his fingerprints discovered on the packaging and he was subsequently arrested.
His solicitor Charlotte Winchester explained that Bayfield has had a drug problem and relapsed at the time that the drugs were found.
“Sadly, he had completed a rehabilitation period in March 2022 but relapsed in May.
“He fully admitted his responsibility.”
Ms Winchester continued: “He left school and went to college and mixed with the wrong crowd. He started smoking cannabis, then started doing cocaine, crack cocaine and ketamine.
“He ended up as a very addicted young person.”
She continued by saying that since this incident, Bayfield has stopped taking drugs completely and that spending a month in rehabilitation “helped him enormously”.
Magistrates, led by William Hush, decided to deal with the offences in the way of a fine.
For possessing cocaine, he was fined £120 and was fined another £80 for having ketamine in his possession.
He was also ordered to pay court costs of £145 and an added victim surcharge fee of £34.
