Man who went ‘off the rails’ after break-up was caught with cocaine

A man who went “off the rails” following a break-up was caught with cocaine just weeks after being warned against any more crime.Shaun Wilkinson, 35, of Bransby Close in Lynn, pleaded guilty to two offences when he appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday.He admitted possession of a Class A drug, as well as being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

Wilkinson had been on Norfolk Street in the town centre shortly after midnight on May 27 when police officers’ attention was drawn to him.They felt his behaviour was “erratic”, and upon speaking to him and conducting a search they found he was carrying a small bag containing 0.62g of cocaine. He was subsequently arrested.His other offence was committed on the very same street earlier this year on April 1. Officers saw him shouting from the middle of the road, and asked him to leave the area. They tried to issue him with a dispersal notice, but he was obstructive and refused to accept it.Wilkinson was unsteady on his feet, smelt of alcohol and declared that he would not be arrested – but shortly afterwards, he was indeed taken into custody. He was originally handed a conditional caution for the offence.However, he breached one of the conditions which stated he must not commit any further crimes by being caught with the cocaine in May.On Thursday, the court heard that Wilkinson has seven previous convictions for 13 offences – the last of which was in 2021. In mitigation, solicitor Alison Muir said: “I think it is quite clear from his previous convictions that there have been previous problems with alcohol and cocaine.“In fact, he has been quite open with me – he has been using cocaine for the past 16 years.”Ms Muir said Wilkinson had gone “off the rails” following a break-up at the time of his offences, but has since been seeking to stay off drugs.Magistrates fined the defendant £840 for possession of cocaine, while he will also pay a £366 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs.An order was made for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs, while Wilkinson was handed no separate penalty for his drunk and disorderly offence.