An inmate charged with having cannabis in his cell had the charges against him dismissed after prosecutors failed to prove he was aware of the drug’s presence.

Garrett Burrows, 47, had denied a charge of possessing cannabis in an increased penalty zone, specifically the Westgate Correctional Facility, on October 28 last year.

During his trial yesterday, Corrections Officer Winston Weeks told the court that on the day in question he had been tasked with searching Mr Burrow’s cell.

Mr Weeks said during the search he got on the floor and found a lose piece of wood at the bottom of a desk.

“When I removed the wood, I saw a ceramic wrap,” he said. “It was in a ball. Right away I informed inmate Burrows that I found this ball underneath his desk.”

He said that he unwrapped the ball in front of Mr Burrows and other corrections officers, revealing plant material inside, it was later found to be 6.31g of cannabis.

“I informed Mr Burrows that he would be held responsible for what was found in his cell,” Mr Weeks said. “His words were: ‘I just moved over here in this cell and I don’t know nothing about it’.”

Mr Weeks said the cells are supposed to be done every day and, while he had searched the cell in the past, he did not know if the cell had been searched earlier that day.

Defence lawyer Rick Woolridge accepted that cannabis was found, but there was no evidence to show the defendant knew anything about it.

He noted there was no evidence to suggest Mr Burrow’s claim that he had been moved into the cell the same day the drugs were found was inaccurate, or that his cell had previously been searched.

Magistrate Archibald Warner dismissed the case, saying that the Crown had failed to prove the defendant had been in possession, leaving him with no case to answer.