A WORCESTER man unwittingly fell victim to the drug initiative Operation Yeoman when he visited a police suspect's house.

Anthony Stratton-Smith, aged 49, was stopped by police after leaving the house and his car was searched, said Abi Nixon, prosecuting.

They found cannabis bush with a street value of between £260 and £280, she said at Worcester Magistrates Court yesterday.

Stratton-Smith admitted possessing cannabis and said he had bought it from Birmingham for his own personal use.

Heart attack

Dale Sheehan, defending, said Stratton-Smith, of Droitwich Road, was in extremely poor health after suffering a heart attack.

He said he also suffered from problems with his joints and spinal cord and took vast quantities of prescribed drugs.

"He takes so many he becomes agitated and can't sleep," he said. "He uses cannabis as a relaxant - he doesn't just take it for the thrill of it."

Mr Sheehan said it was a sheer coincidence that he was visiting the house of an Operation Yeoman defendant on Friday, November 30 last year.

Magistrates accepted that he used the drug to relieve his medical condition, but fined him £100 with £80 costs.