A 21-year-old was sentenced to three months imprisonment yesterday for possessing cannabis in Westgate.Tetson Perkins pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court, telling Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that since being released from prison he has been overseas studying.Crown counsel Nicole Smith said that Perkins was incarcerated at Westgate on October 10, 2009, when prison officers searched his cell.During the search, officers found a small paper twist containing plant material in a window.While Perkins denied any knowledge of the material at the time, lab tests showed the twist contained 0.15g of cannabis.In Magistrates’ Court, Perkins pleaded guilty to the offence of possessing cannabis in an increased penalty zone and apologised for missing his original court date.“The fact of the matter is I have two parents who wanted to see me turn my life around,” he said.“The police didn’t give me a court date until the day before I left the Island. The ticket had already been booked for school. The same day I was released I flew to Canada.”Mr Warner however said that possession of drugs, particularly in a prison, is a serious offence.“Ministers have declared, because of the nature of the facility, that it is an increased penalty zone,” Mr Warner said. “I don’t have to speak to why, it explains itself.“You knew before you left prison, albeit according to you the day before your parents had made arrangements, that you had a date before this court yet you knowingly absented yourself from attending this court.“You clearly decided to avoid, in my view, your responsibilities, having been caught in jail with these drugs.”Mr Warner sentenced Perkins to three months in prison beginning immediately.