A MAN who admitted having more than £500 of cannabis in his house avoided being sent to prison yesterday.

Stephen Boagey, 45, of Caithness Road, Hartlepool, admitted being in possession of a class B drug with intent to supply.

David Brooke, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that officers had searched the house at Caithness Road on December 15 and found the drugs, much of which had been cut into small weights such as an eighth or sixteenth of an ounce. He said the home of Boagey's ex-wife in Cairns Road, Hartlepool, had also been searched by police, who found cling film which had been used to wrap some of the drugs.

Mr Brooke said Boagey had admitted the charge on the basis that although he was knowingly in possession of the drugs and had some degree of control over them, he was not distributing the cannabis and had not packaged it for sale. He said there were other people also living in the house.

Stephen Ashurst, for Boagey, said his client had had the top of his head "sliced off" as a child and since then had been on medication to control seizures.

He said Boagey needed help with cooking and taking his medication and that his son was his 24-hour-a-day carer.

Judge Peter Fox QC sentenced Boagey to six months in prison suspended for two years.