that a key found in his kitchen opened the basement door in which 75 cannabis plants were found.

Williams, 43, of Harbour Road, Paget, is charged with knowingly allowing Richard Graham Thomas, 40, to use his basement to cultivate 75 cannabis plants in an operation that used transformers, powerful lights, an extractor fan and a water hose among other items.

Thomas, of White Sands Road, Paget, pleaded guilty on Monday to growing the cannabis plants in Williams' home. He will be sentenced next Wednesday.

Williams, who owns Williams Trading with his mother and sister, strenuously denied the Crown's assertion that he was concocting evidence as he went along and said he had made every effort to be truthful.

He said that when Police came to his home during the early hours of January 17, 1994 he was nervous and petrified and not at all "calm and collected'' as officers had earlier testified.

"I don't remember myself as calm and collected,'' he said. "The Police were cordial, it was not a nasty situation at all but I certainly was in shock.'' Williams said he did not answer Police officer's questions after they found a brown paper bag with Rizzla papers and a commercial cigarette because he had forgotten that it was there.

However when Police found a plastic bag containing 2.97 grams of cannabis in the kitchen, Williams said he was devastated.

"All kinds of things were going through my mind at that time. I was caught.

There was no use denying it.'' Williams said he was surprised when one officer asked him if he grew cannabis plants because that seemed out of place in the circumstances.

Moreover, he said he was surprised still further when an officer said she could smell cannabis in his trash can because there was no odour that he could detect.

Despite that he admitted to officers that there were cannabis remnants in the trash because he had smoked a joint two nights before.

"If (the officer) had searched she would have found a deposit of cannabis.'' When the Police took him to the basement, Williams said their manner and insinuations made him believe that there was "something very wrong behind the partition,'' although he did not know what it was.

After the door was opened, Williams said: "It was extremely bright. The most noticeable thing in that room was the light. The whole thing struck me at once and it was not what I expected at all.

"I was curious to see more, I didn't need any coaching. It was pretty obvious what (the plants) were.'' Since his arrest Williams, said his life has been difficult.

"I have a lot of load on my shoulders. I am humiliated, embarrassed and very angry about this. It's been a difficult year and a half in my life. It has affected my family, the staff who work for me and has had an affect on my business and my friends. It's just been horrible.'' The trial continues on Monday morning before Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs.

Justice Wade. Mr. Khamisi Tokunbo appears for the Crown while Mr. Alan Dunch appears for the defendant.