A St George’s man caught with drugs on a stolen bike has been sentenced to time already served behind bars.

John O’Connor, 29, was convicted earlier this year of possessing 0.36g of cannabis, 1.9g of cocaine and taking a vehicle without consent — all connected to an incident on May 16 last year.

Appearing in court for sentencing this morning, defence lawyer Arion Mapp argued that the most appropriate course of action would be to send the matter to Drug Treatment Court, explaining that O’Connor had turned to drugs after his mother was diagnosed with cancer.

“It does appear that he needs some support in his life and he admits having a problem with drugs for some years,” he said. “To simply say let’s incarcerate him, he would serve his sentence and the issue would be unresolved.”

However, prosecutor Victoria Greening noted that senior magistrate Juan Wolffe had found O’Connor was “unsuitable” for drug treatment court at this time, suggesting that the remaining alternative would be imprisonment.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo sentenced O’Connor to the time he has already served in custody in connection to the matter, followed by 12-months of probation including stipulations recommended in a Social Inquiry Report and a drug assessment.

O’Connor remains in custody in connection to separate matters.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. As we are legally liable for any slanderous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.