When Courtney Blagrove appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday and heard that he had to pay a fine of $4,200 he was astonished. "A so much money?" he asked.

Blagrove was facing charges of possession of ganja and four counts of having an offensive weapon. Allegations in the matter are that the police were patrolling an area about 3:30 a.m. when they saw Blagrove and searched him. During the search, they found amounts of ganja and four knives.

When the accused got a chance to speak, he said, "I am guilty your honour, but mi use the knife them fi different reasons, one fi cut the cane them weh mi sell and one a mi old knife weh mi use as a key ring. And to be honest, mi haffi protect miself your honour, so one a fi protection."

Blagrove did not know his fine would be so much, so he asked Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown for more time to pay. "Mi madda deh a foreign and mi ask har fi the money and she say mi fi go court and then tell har the fine, so mi will tell har now," he said.

RM Brown responded by saying, "Sir, when you come court, you only go home when you pay the fine, so you have get someone to call your mother."