Top barrister Charles Richardson admitted cannabis possession yesterday, but escaped a conviction that could have wrecked his career.

He was instead handed a three-year conditional discharge by a Magistrate, who said "foolishness" had brought him back to court after he famously turned his life around.

Richardson, 38, studied for his law degree in prison after being convicted of a nightclub shooting in 1995. He already had a conviction dating from 1993 for cannabis possession with intent to supply.

He was called to the Bar in 2005 after his release from jail, and has since made a name for himself as one of the Island's top defence lawyers. A total of 8.2 grams of cannabis and 0.71 grams of cannabis resin was found at his home in Club Road, Hamilton Parish, during a Police raid on the evening of August 11 last year.

Richardson pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession yesterday. He admitted knowing the cannabis was in his house, but said it belonged to a houseguest.

Sentencing him, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said Richardson was in court in "peculiar" circumstances, since he's trained in law and is looked at by the public to set an example.

"You also come uniquely in the sense that you come with previous convictions, remarkable in that it's widely known how you beat those convictions and turned things around," he said.

"And coming back here today for this can be disturbing to some if you have turned yourself around and (been) a perfect example of how you can beat those difficulties. This would be foolishness for you to come here like this."

Prosecutor Cindy Clarke explained that narcotics officers obtained a search warrant for Richardson's two-bedroom apartment "acting on information received." He was not present at the time, but lawyer Rick Woolridge arrived to act on his behalf.

The officers, accompanied by a sniffer dog, found a plastic container containing two plastic twists of cannabis, a piece of cannabis resin, a $2 bill containing cannabis and a torn packet of Rizla papers in the master bedroom. A burned home-made cigarette was found in an ashtray on top of a dresser.

Richardson surrendered to Hamilton Police Station the following day and was arrested. The seized items were sent for examination, and his DNA was found on the plastic container, the $2 bill and Rizla papers.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher asked for the matter to be dealt with by way of a conditional discharge, as a conviction would affect Richardson's career.

She said he pleaded guilty on the basis that he had "knowledge and control" of the drugs, but stressed they were not for his personal use.

She added: "This matter came to the attention of the authorities because of what I would describe as malice of a third party."

Richardson told the Magistrate: "I would just like to apologise for not being more diligent in dealing (with it) when I became aware of the items. They did belong to someone who stayed with me for a while and I did ask him to remove them."

Mr. Tokunbo said he recognised the implications that a conviction could have on Richardson and his career, plus his achievements since his last conviction and his contribution to the community.

He also noted that there is a "pattern" in Bermuda's courts of handing people conditional discharges for possessing small amounts of cannabis in order to keep them off the US immigration stop list. He said this was more usual when there were no previous convictions.

However, he told Mr. Richardson: "I'm going to treat this as one that would not be in your interests for me to convict you, given your profession and stature. And that's not treating you any different and I hope I'm making my point and justifying why I am doing this. I think the circumstances warrant it."

The conditions of the court order are that Richardson refrain from the use of illegal drugs and submits to random drug testing. No conviction will be recorded against him as long as he abides by the conditions for the next three years.

Richardson declined to comment after the case. However, in a remark posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening, he said: "Sometimes escape is not an option.

"Even when the way is clear for us to walk away from a situation sometimes the honourable thing to do is to stand, admit those faults which are yours and move on. Escape is easy. Taking responsibility is not."

It was unclear yesterday he will face any action from his professional body, the Bar Council, over the matter. President Kiernan Bell was said to be unavailable for comment.