A “big responsibility” which drug addict Winfield Theophilus Roach claimed he has to an Anglican Church, did not save him from going to prison earlier today.
When Roach, of Chancery Lane, The City went before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, he confessed to having apparatus fit for use in connection with cocaine on Sunday.
Presenting the facts of the case, Station Sergeant Neville Watson told the court it was close to 2 a.m. when police on patrol saw Roach lying on a step in Chancery Lane.
As the officers approached him, Roach began fidgeting with one of his pockets. After he consented to a search, the police found a small bottle with a blackened end in his pocket.
Roach has prior convictions for theft and robbery, the last being in 2009.
Asked by Magistrate Douglas Frederick if he had anything to say, Roach replied: “I can’t say nothing more. They find the apparatus on me.”
Questioned by the magistrate, the father of one said he has been using drugs “a good few years now” and has never tried to kick the habit.
When Frederick suggested that Roach could get help but it “would have to be in a structured environment” like prison, since “being on the streets” might cause him to relapse, Roach replied: “I won’t like to go there to do that.”
He told the court at this point that he has a big responsibility to the St Ambrose Anglican Church, since he cleans the surroundings and performs other tasks there.
After telling Roach that he cannot be at his best if he is on drugs, the magistrate sentenced him to six months in jail with an order to undergo drug rehabilitation.