A 28-year-old father of three was yesterday jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay a total of $60,000 in fines for allowing a "drugs supermarket" to operate from his home.

Prior to being sentenced in Supreme Court yesterday, Damon Rabain apologised and said: "I was in no way involved in the selling of the drugs."

Rabain pleaded guilty to three separate counts of allowing his Club Road, Devil's Hole residence to be used for the control and supply of cocaine, heroine and cannabis on January 20 last year.

But his not guilty pleas to five other charges - of possessing the drugs with intent to supply, cultivation and simple possession of cannabis - were accepted by the prosecution.

The court heard that a Police search of the residence and yard, which was guarded by a pitbull terrier, turned up heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine worth more than $37,000, as well as $9,136 in cash.

The maximum sentence for such a crime is life in prison. But lawyer Mark Pettingill said his client was not a major player in the drug trade and that he derived no benefit from allowing his premises to be used.

Crown counsel Juan Wolffe said the crime was as serious as possession of illicit drugs with intent to supply and warranted a custodial sentence of 18 months to two years.

Mr. Pettingil asked the judge to take full account of Rabain's guilty plea and the fact that he is a "relatively young man" who supports all his children.

He added that all alternatives to incarceration should be considered.

But Assistant Justice Archibald Warner said the Alternatives to Incarceration approach did not mean no one should go to prison.

Alternatives to Incarceration is "a reality based philosophy" which meant that "prison should be used as a last resort and where it is necessary", he said.

He said prison could be used to to deal with the drugs trade by "taking the major players out of business".

Mr. Pettingill insisted his client was not a major player and he said the Crown seemed to have accepted that.

"From the very nature of the charges, what we have here is the major player has not come before the courts and probably will not come before the courts," the lawyer said.

"He (Rabain) suffered something to be done that was illicit and he's taking responsibility for it."

And he argued against forfeiting the money found during the raid saying there was insufficient evidence to show it was the proceeds of illicit activity.

Rabain had told the Police that he earned the money from his job at local sound system Soul Jah One.

"If you have got a supermarket of drugs on your property and a whole lot of money, clearly it should be thought that money comes from drug activity," Mr. Warner responded.

He added that Rabain must have had a financial reason for allowing the quantity and variety of drugs to be sold on his premises.

Mr. Pettingill replied that he could have done it out of stupidity or fear. And he said two other young men lived at the residence but were not before the court.

"These are serious offences," said Mr. Warner before announcing the sentence. "This is a drugs supermarket operating out of your residence and you must have benefited substantially." He said the crimes merited four years in prison.

But he imposed an 18 month prison term, to run concurrently, and a $20,000 fine for each of the three counts.

The fines must be paid within 60 days or Rabain will face another year in prison for each $20,000 fine unpaid. Rabain has previous convictions dating back to 1997, including obstructing Police in the course of their duty, possessing a knife and using offensive words.