Downham Market man Bryan Ballantyne caught with ketamine during psychotic episode

A 27-year-old who breached a court order during a psychotic episode has been handed a fine.

Bryn Ballantyne, of High Street in Downham, was caught snorting ketamine when the police attended his home on November 22 last year for unrelated matters.

A subsequent search of the property unveiled two rolled-up lottery tickets containing white powder, and tests revealed it was also ketamine.

Ballantyne appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to possession of a Class B drug.

The court heard he had 31 previous convictions, and had been handed a 12-month conditional discharge in March last year - which he breached by committing the latest offence.

Mitigating, solicitor Alison Muir said: “Although he has a number of convictions, this is only the third one for drug offences.”

She told the court that Ballantyne suffered from “psychotic episodes” at the time of his offence.

He had recently been to the pub to watch a sports match, and became involved in a fight which resulted in his jaw being broken.

He was taken to hospital and suffered another mental health episode - at which point he began to use drugs again.

Magistrates fined Ballantyne £80 for drug possession and £50 for breaching his conditional discharge.

He will also pay a £52 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs, while the drugs will be forfeited and destroyed.