A 59-year-old man has been sentenced to community service for possessing heroin and smashing a window.

Rex William Chambers admitted both offences as well as cultivating cannabis.

Deputy High Bailiff James Brooks ordered him to do 90 hours unpaid work and pay £300 compensation to Ramsey Town Commissioners for the broken window.

Prosecuting advocate Rebecca Cubbon told the court how, on January 20, Chambers was arrested in a lane near to Waterloo Road in Ramsey.

Police found a Kinder egg in his pocket which contained 1.5 grams of heroin, valued by police at £322.

His home, at Brookhill Road in Ramsey, was searched and a wilting cannabis plant was found in the kitchen on a counter which was later estimated to have a potential yield of between 28 and 84 grams, valued at between £840 and £2,520.

On August 20, police were called to another property in Ramsey after it was reported that Chambers had broken the outer glass of a PVC door.

A witness said that Chambers had been arguing with them and had left their property but had then thrown a bottle causing the glass in the door to smash.

He was arrested and told police: ’Yes that was me. I was in such a rage I threw my half-empty bottle at the door.’

Defence advocate James Peterson said that his client had thrown the bottle in anger and it had been a reckless act rather than a deliberate attempt to break the window.

Mr Peterson said: ’The heroin was for personal use. He believed he was purchasing a smaller amount. He is a long-term user but was reducing his use.’

The advocate said that Chambers had suffered a bereavement which had turned him back to the drug.

’He is meeting with the Drug and Alcohol Team (DAT) and is not using at the moment,’ said Mr Peterson.

’The medication he is on seems to be working. The cannabis plant was very small, it hadn’t budded and was out of its pot on the counter. Mr Chambers would dispute it was ever going to yield, it was dying.’

Deputy High Bailiff Mr Brooks sentenced Chambers to 90 hours community service for each of the three offences, to run concurrently.

He was also ordered to pay £175 prosecution costs which he will pay at a rate of £20 per fortnight, deducted from benefits.