Dope smoker avoids jail

James Walsh, 20, of Chiltern Drive was arrested as he ran away from the property in Mount Pleasant Road in January, and admitted to police officers he had been there to smoke cannabis.

He pleaded guilty to vagrancy when he appeared at Hastings Magistrates Court on Monday and also admitted breaching his community service order which he got from magistrates in Kent last year.

"This house has been empty for a number of years although the owner is going to renovate it," prosecutor Jeremy King told the court,

"In the early hours of January 15 a neighbour saw a light on and heard a disturbance so they called the police.

"A number of people tried to run away but police arrested Walsh at the back of the house. He told police he went there because it was somewhere quiet to have a spliff."

Kim Goodall, defending, said: "The defendant has been charged purely because of his honesty.

"He admitted to police he was going there to smoke cannabis whereas other people arrested that night said they weren't going to the house for any reason and they have not been charged.

"He apologises for the trouble he has caused but he is not the worst type of offender who comes before this court.

"If you send him to prison there is a real chance he will go in as a petty criminal and come out as a much worse offender."

Magistrates sentenced Walsh to six weeks in jail, suspended for six months.

He was also ordered to do 40 hours of community service and observe a curfew between 7pm and 7am for the next eight weeks.

Chairman of the bench Mike Pratt said: "You have got to focus yourself and get this completed.

"If you breach this order, you will go to prison."