intent to supply charges, when he appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Richard Lewis Repose, 41, of 8 Marl Lane, Warwick, was fined $2,000 after he pleaded guilty to possessing a controlled drug in an increased penalty zone, on August 25.

But Repose protested to Acting Magistrate Tyrone Chin that he was not in the Par La Ville Park area selling drugs, instead he was merely using the public restroom facilities.

"I was just passing through the park when they stopped me,'' Repose said.

"It was one ounce, one poke of weed.

"You can smoke that in a couple of days. I like to buy it in bulk, to avoid getting caught by Police.'' "That's quite a substantial amount,'' Mr. Chin said. "I will treat it like a possession, but I have a hard time trying to visualise that amount for personal use.'' Earlier, Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told the court that Police Officers were on patrol in the park, when they saw Repose emerge from some nearby bushes with a cigarette in his mouth.

They watched as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and went to mount his pedal cycle.

When Police approached and asked him about the cigarette, they noticed that Repose was fidgety and nervous.

He was searched and found to have a plastic bag containing loose plant material in his waist pouch pocket. He also admitted the cigarette was a "homemade joint.'' He was consequently taken to Hamilton Police Station and upon further search of Repose, Police found five more bags containing loose plant material. The substance was analysed by the Government Analyst and found to total 30.49 grams of cannabis.

Lawyer Paul Harshaw, who appeared on Repose's behalf, said he was an experienced mason who has family obligations and asked Mr. Chin to be lenient with his judgment.

"He was not in the park trying to sell drugs,'' Mr. Harshaw said. "Let's not read anything nefarious into this. This is a man that simply likes to smoke weed.'' Mr. Chin replied: "But he emerged from the bushes, he was already in the increased penalty zone. An ounce is a lot of marijuana.

Mr. Chin fined Repose $1,000 for the possession and $1,000 for being in the increased penalty zone.