had the case against him dropped because of a lack of evidence.

Kirk Roberts, 37, a self-employed shipwright, was charged with possessing and handling the drugs with intent to supply between an unknown date and September last year.

The drugs were allegedly stored in a refrigerator kept at a friend's apartment. But at a preliminary inquiry into the case last week Magistrate Archie Warner dropped both charges after ruling that Police had not gathered enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

A third charge of possessing drug equipment was also dropped.

But Roberts, whose parents William and Barbara were each given 12-year jail terms in November 1997 after being found guilty of possessing $1.5 million of cocaine, will have to make another court appearance in the summer.

He faces an additional charge of supplying a controlled drug to a prisoner.

The incident is alleged to have taken place during his parents' appearance in the Court of Appeal last June when Roberts allegedly passed an anti-depressant drug to his distraught mother as she sat in the dock.