A drug user was told to pay his fine for cannabis possession promptly by a magistrate yesterday.

Vernon Simons, 20, of Controversy Lane, Pembroke, pleaded guilty to the charge at Magistrates? Court. He was found carrying the drug by Police in Pembroke on November 11 last year.

He told the court he believed he had already been dealt with for the crime by way of a fine. But a check of the records by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner found that he was dealt with for another offence and fined $1,600 on January 12. That fine had still not been paid yesterday.

?This matter is completely different,? said Mr. Warner, who fined him another $1,000 and told him to pay immediately.