A St George’s man who said he found more than 35 grams of cannabis after seeing someone throw an item into the trees on North Shore Road has been found guilty of possessing the drugs.

But Lamar Bean, 32, was found not guilty of possession with intent to supply when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

The court heard that on September 25 last year, Bean was arrested after police officers attended a report of suspicious activity in a motor car parked on top of Bull’s Head Car Park — Bean was one of three occupants in the car.

When he was searched, officers found six bags of plant material in the back pocket of his trousers and Bean said: “It’s weed. It’s mine.”

Later that day, officers also searched Bean’s residence, but found nothing of note. Bean had been charged with possessing 36.41g of cannabis with intent to supply at a previous court appearance in February and had pleaded not guilty. During his trial, he admitted that he had the drugs, which would have had a street value of $1,825, in his possession and had smoked some, but he denied possessing them with intent to supply.

Bean told the court that he had been riding his motorcycle to work on North Shore Road in Devonshire when he noticed oncoming vehicles flashing their lights. He said he then saw the rider of a motorcycle in front of him “throw something in the trees”.

He continued on to work, but later returned to the location to see if he could find what had been thrown. “I found cannabis,” he told the court. “I was going to smoke it.”

While prosecutor Nicole Smith suggested that Bean had made up the entire story, defence lawyer Larry Mussenden said there was no evidence to suggest intent to supply. Magistrate Archibald Warner found Bean guilty of possessing the drugs, not guilty of possession with intent to supply, and fined him $1,000.

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