A Llandybie mechanic has learned the hard way that one good turn will not necessarily earn you another - especially where Ammanford magistrates are concerned.

Last Thursday, defendants and their solicitors joined prosecution lawyers, security guards and red-faced magistrates beneath overcast skies outside the town's court as the doors to the building remained firmly locked.

For half-an-hour, keys to the building were handed from one highly-trained court official to another as expensively educated legal brains struggled in vain to overcome the most straightforward of barriers.

Finally, with court officers prowling the building in search of an open window and after numerous calls to those on high, 33-year-old defendant Mark Elwyn Richards stepped forward to offer his services.

Within seconds, Richards, who gave his address as The Caravan at Glyn Hir Mansion, was striding through the open doorway to take his place in the court's waiting room.

"I'm a mechanic," said Richards with an unassuming shrug when asked how he got in.

Forty minutes after he had opened the way for his own prosecution, Richards took to the dock charged with possessing a small quantity of cannabis.

The court heard how police officers raided Richards' caravan on May 1 and found a tobacco tin containing a small amount of herbal cannabis.

Richards, who works 11-hours-a-day six-days-a-week for just £200, immediately admitted the drugs belonged to him.

He told police that he used the Class C drug to relieve long-standing back pain and to help him drift off to sleep at night. Prosecutors accepted that the cannabis had been for Richards' personal use.

Magistrates fined Richards £100 and added an additional £15 surcharge. They also ordered him to pay £60 towards costs.

Richards may now well be wondering whether a good turn - even if it just the turn of a key - is really worth it. He did not even receive a thank you.