A schoolboy was yesterday given two years probation after Police caught him with six bags of cannabis.

Mykellan Kerr, 16, of Pembroke, pleaded guilty in April to possession of illegal drugs when the court heard that he was stopped on November 28 last year for a random search by Police at midnight on the corner of Front Street and King Street. Officers found 5.56 grams of cannabis, which Kerr said was for his own personal use.

Yesterday the teenager appeared in court for sentencing and his lawyer Jaymo Durham told Magistrates' Court that the Berkeley Institute student had been on a downward spiral after the loss of his mother to colon cancer last August.

"It appears that this young man was a successful student. His grades were of an A and B standard," Mr. Durham said. "The death of his mother was a traumatic experience for him and for his family, and his grades took a downturn. All indicators suggest that his mother was a stabilising factor in his life."

Mr. Durham also told the court that the schoolboy had been introduced to marijuana at a very young age, and had been a regular user since he was 13 or 14.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner dismissed the idea that the death of the boy's mother was a mitigating factor in Kerr's drug use because he had been a regular user while she was still alive.

"Really and truly, I don't believe that had anything to do with it," Mr. Warner said. "This is not a case where he was sitting around at home depressed. This is a case where he's out at 12.05 a.m. with his friends and six bags of ganja.

"He is lucky he hasn't been charged with intent to supply. The death of his mother is unfortunate, but it has little effect on the circumstances by which he was found."

Mr. Durham said the reason Kerr had such a large amount of drugs was not to sell it, but because he had made a purchase just before Police arrived.

While Mr. Warner agreed with Mr. Durham that Kerr needed drug treatment, he questioned how effective it could be given that, according to the social inquiry report, his father also smoked cannabis.

Mr. Warner said: "The social inquiry report hasn't said anything about separating him from his father. How can he come clean when his father is encouraging it?"

While Mr. Durham asked for Kerr to be given a conditional discharge so that he might be able to continue his education in the US, Mr. Warner said the defendant should be expelled.

"I don't run the educational system, but in my view he shouldn't be allowed back into that school.

"If the school authority were aware that a student is a habitual user of drugs, he shouldn't be allowed back into the school with other children."

Mr. Warner convicted Kerr of possessing cannabis, and sentenced him to two years parole, under the condition that Kerr follow recommended drug treatment programmes.

No-one was available from the Berkeley Institute for comment.