A Magistrate yesterday refused to view the video evidence obtained in Operation Cleansweep of a man who pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis.

George Simons, 35, of Westering Lane, Warwick, who was charged with five counts of supplying cannabis in Warwick Parish, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

But when sentencing Simons, Magistrate Edward King told Crown Counsel Wilhelm Bourne that he saw no need to see video footage of Simons selling the drugs as part of the evidence.

Mr. King also found the fact that Simons was caught in Operation Cleansweep to be irrelevant as part of the summary of evidence.

Mr. King asked Mr. Bourne if Simons was "any different from another person who is caught selling drugs on Court Street''. Mr. Bourne told him that the footage was just for his assistance, but proceeded to read the summary of evidence instead.

He said Simons had approached an undercover Drugs Enforcement Agent and sold him $25 of cannabis on April 16 in the area of Warwick Bowling Alley on Middle Road.

Simons later sold $25 of cannabis to an undercover agent on April 16 in the same area.

And he then sold cannabis on three occasions on May 1 to an undercover agent for a total of $125.

Mr. Bourne reported that the total amount of cannabis involved was 3.79 grams.

Simons had pleaded not guilty to a sixth charge of supplying crack cocaine on May 7 in Warwick.

But Mr. King questioned the prosecution's efforts to pursue a trial for this charge.

coffin, why put in the 100th?''.

Mr. Bourne dropped the charge.

When asked if he had a comment, Simons said: "I know I've caused inconvenience to the court and my family.'' He also said he was concerned for his wife and two sons who recently moved to the Island.

Simons said one son was due to start school in September and the other was in day-care.

"My wife has no other means of support,'' he explained.

He also said that he had to pay child support for another daughter who lived in Jamaica.

Mr. King sentenced Simons to three years in prison and said the courts had to use their "sentencing muscle'' in order to stop or at least cripple the drug problem in Bermuda.

He ordered that the sentence start from today and not take into account the time Simons had already spent in custody.