In an unprecedented case which could have far reaching consequences for drug trials, a man convicted of possessing 112.8 grams of heroin with intent to supply, is appealing the conviction on the grounds that he did not intend to supply the drug in Bermuda.

Appeals Court judges now have to decide on the correct interpretation of Bermuda?s drug laws.

Anthony Seymour, 39, normally resident at Northcote Avenue, Pembroke, admitted on the witness stand during his trial in March this year that he had the drugs and intended to take them to Florida and sell them there.

The jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. His lawyer Craig Attridge argued that the trial judge erred by not directing the jury that they could not find him guilty of intent to supply if they believed his story that he intended to sell the drugs in Florida.

He said legislation was generally territorial and governed acts in Bermuda.

Mr. Attridge said that, even if someone had a warehouse of cannabis in Bermuda, they could only be found guilty of simple possession if it was clear that the consignment was headed to coffee shops in Amsterdam.

Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen disagreed, saying that the law made it an offence to possess illicit drugs with intent to supply regardless of where the drugs were headed. She said all the elements of the offence under the law had been established in the Seymour trial ? that he possessed the drug, that the drug was controlled and that he intended to supply that drug.

It emerged in court on Tuesday that Seymour had ingested the drugs and he had booked a flight to Florida. Appeals Court President Edward Zacca noted that, in normal circumstances, the possession of a commercially viable quantity of drugs carries an inference that it is intended to supply in Bermuda. ?It would not be expected for anyone to ingest a drug with the intention of hiding it,? he said. ?That would be very dangerous and they would not be alive.?