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A cannabis smoker was arrested for lighting up in "his own home".

After buying a £20 deal, Mmuianga Nono Kalewuka started smoking in Elliot House in Newcastle's West End.

The Bentick Terrace venue offers accommodation - often in emergencies - for vulnerable people.

North Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard the police were called due to the smoke from Kalewuka on January 9.

He has been convicted after admitting cannabis possession, but his solicitor Adrian Ions claimed: "It is effectively in his own home.

"Normally you wouldn't have people searching your rooms [if you were smoking at home]."

Mitigating, he claimed it was a "small amount for personal use", adding: "It helps with the health problems that he has."

And Kalewuka even apologised at the time, stating: "Sorry for the smoke."

However the 27-year-old, now of Croydon Road, Fenham , was prosecuted after the court heard he already had a cannabis caution.

He was fined £40 and ordered to pay a £30 charge and £40 in costs.