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A South Wales Labour councillor has been given fines and costs totalling £525 after admitting possession of cannabis which was found in a safe at his home.

Mark Jones, 45, of Castle Street, Aberavon, Port Talbot was voted onto Neath Port Talbot Council in the May 2012 elections as the representative for Aberavon when he replaced a Social Democratic Party councillor.

At Swansea Magistrates' Court, prosecutor Linda Baker said a nine ounce bar of cannabis was found by police in the safe at the councillor’s home after they executed a search warrant at his house in November of last year.

Jones told police he’d paid £360 for the bar and that it would “last him eight months”.

His solicitor Mike Spring said yesterday Jones used cannabis to ease the pain of an undisclosed medical condition and medical papers supporting the claim were handed in to the court.

Mr Spring said: “He was using cannabis medically and found the pain relief element helped him most.

“There was nothing to show he was in any way involved in dealing the cannabis. He has said he has never been involved in the supply of drugs and that he never would be.”

A number of character references on the councillor’s behalf were handed to Deputy District Judge Neil Thomas and after reading them he said: “Public service may be a thing of the past as a result of this case”.

Mr Spring replied: “That may not necessarily be the case but there will be implications.”

Before today’s sentencing hearing a statement from the Welsh Labour Party said Jones had been suspended from the party, pending further investigation though Neath Port Talbot Council’s head of legal services David Michael said Jones had not been suspended as a councillor.

He added: “A serving councillor becomes disqualified if he or she is convicted of a criminal offence and is sentenced to a period of imprisonment, whether suspended or not, for a period of not less than three months.

“Also, if the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales receives a complaint of a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct, the Ombudsman may refer a matter to the Adjudication Panel for Wales or the council’s own standards committee.

“The standards committee has power to suspend a member, but only on referral from the Ombudsman and no referral has been received.

“We have been informed that councillor Jones has been suspended from participation in the council’s Labour group by that group.”

In mitigation for Jones, Mr Spring said of the cannabis found at his house: “It was a significant amount. The defendant does not seek to justify using what is an illegal substance but he does seek to explain it. In police interviews he made clear admissions as to the cannabis.”

The Deputy District Judge said he was satisfied as to the “medical matters” raised by Jones’ solicitor but said because of the weight and amount of the cannabis it was “not an ordinary case in any way”.

However he said he could deal with the matter via a financial penalty as there was no evidence of any habitual use. Jones was fined £400 for possessing cannabis and was ordered to pay £85 costs plus a £40 victim surcharge.