A MAN jumped into a canal to escape a police officer who had caught him smoking cannabis at the back of a Chester supermarket, a court heard.

Daniel John Lloyd, 20, of Beechwood Road, Saltney, “panicked” as he had already been given a warning on May 28 this year.

He made it to the other side of the canal, near Iceland on Frodsham Street, but was soon apprehended.

Lloyd, who works occasionally as a roofer, pleaded guilty to possessing a class B drug and obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty.

He was fined £150 and must also pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £30.

Alan Currums, prosecuting, said an officer had discovered Lloyd and a friend smoking a joint at the back of the supermarket in the afternoon.

“The defendant made off on his bike, jumped into the canal and threw his bike in as well,” he said. “He got out of the canal at the other side.”

He was stopped soon after and a “large bag” of cannabis was seized.

In police interview he accepted he had been smoking cannabis and tried to escape but claimed he had actually fallen in the canal.

The court heard Lloyd has a £100 a week cannabis habit. He initially offered to pay off his fine at £10 per week but in light of his weekly drug spend magistrates demanded repayments of £20.