A MAN who attended the illegal rave at Savernake Forest, near Marlborough, unwittingly ended up being charged with possessing drugs.

Wayne Leary, of Tuffley Lane, Gloucester, attended the rave held over the May bank holiday weekend and was arrested by police after drugs were found in the pocket of a coat which was not his but which he was carrying. Leary appeared at Kennet Magistrates Court in Devizes on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to possession of 233 milligrammes of herbal cannabis, 38.9 grammes of amphetamine and 115 Ecstasy tablets.

Becky Abbott, prosecuting, said Leary was with two men and a woman who were said by police to be unsteady on their feet.

Leary, 24, fell to the ground and PC Tom Kinderman went to assist him.

While he was doing so, she said, he saw a bag containing a wrap of tablets which was hanging out of the coat pocket.

Leary was searched and the bag was found to contain some Ecstasy tablets. He was arrested and handcuffed. More Ecstasy tablets, the cannabis and the amphetamines were found in the coat.

At the police station Leary admitted attending the rave on Saturday with his friends but said he didn't have a coat with him.

Miss Abbott said: "He said he had been disorientated and picked up a coat that was too small and wasn't his. He was on his way back to put the coat back when he was arrested.

"The Crown accepts it wasn't his coat. A statement from his friends states he did not go to the rave with a coat."

Paul Jones, defending, said the coat was three sizes too small for Leary and didn't fit him.

He said: "When he picked up the coat he put his hand in the pocket and started to panic when he realised what was in there. He was on his way to put the coat back when the police came across him.

"Technically, because he was aware he had drugs on him and he wasn't intending to give them back to a police officer or destroy them he is guilty of possession. It was an accidental possession."

The court heard Leary had two previous convictions for possession of class A drugs in 2001.

Mr Jones said this was around the time Leary was going through a traumatic divorce.

He said: "My client married young and describes himself then as a wild child. He was depressed and committed offences but that stopped in 2002."

He said Leary was running his own successful scaffolding business employing two people and was in a new relationship. He also has custody of his six-year-old son.

The magistrates accepted that the coat Leary was in possession of was not his.

They fined him £350 for possession of the Ecstasy tablets with no separate penalty for the other drugs. He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £118 and an order was made for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

More than 800 revellers descended on Savernake Forest for the illegal rave on May 3 and 4. The police were criticised for not breaking up the gathering and dozens of complaints were made by residents whose sleep was shattered by the noise of amplified music from the rave.

But police chief Mandy Evely said they did not break up the event because it could have resulted in violence.