Magistrates' Court and was given a 12 month conditional discharge.

The court heard that Police officers entered a derelict building on the junction of Angle and Court Street at about 1 a.m. on February 16 and found Shelton Richmond Simons, 53, in a room with a table and a lit candle.

Simons appeared to be putting something down on the ground and officers recovered a pipe which was later found to have cocaine residue on it.

The Marsh Lane man told the court that he was resting in the building while he waited for the gates of the Salvation Army Men's Shelter to open.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner asked Simons why he had a pipe if he was not doing drugs.

Simons said he had reached down and gripped what was on the floor and happened to be picking up the pipe as the Police entered.