A Pembroke man pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and rolling papers when he appeared at Magistrates' Court.

Kirk Butterfield, 40, of Pembroke, admitted to possessing 3.68 grams of the illegal drug cannabis at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on December 18. He appeared in court on Monday.

Butterfield, who is the son of Minister of Culture, Environment and Social Rehabilitation, Neletha Butterfield, works for the CARE Learning Centre, a school for behaviourally challenged youths.

The court heard that at 3.48 p.m. on December 18, at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, Police entered Butterfield's sixth-floor room under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Crown counsel Robert Welling read the report which stated that Police smelled burning cannabis as they entered the room and found a homemade cigarette with one end burned, in an ashtray on the window sill.

Later Police brought a dog unit to the hotel to further search the scene.

The dog alerted officers to a desk where a small plastic twist containing plant material was found along with a package of cigarette papers. The dog also alerted officers to a stack of $3,000 cash in Butterfield's jacket pocket.

When asked by an officer why he had the cash, Butterfield claimed it was to license and insure his car.

A government analyst later confirmed that plant material in the plastic twist and cigarette was 3.68 grams of cannabis

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner fined Butterfield $1,000 for the cannabis and $800 for the rolling papers.