CAR LOT manager Stuart Kennedy was caught in a quandry when he realised he had bought stolen goods, a court heard.Kennedy, 34, from Russell Road, Felixstowe panicked when he realised the alloy wheels he had bought could be stolen property and hid them instead of owning up to the police.

CAR LOT manager Stuart Kennedy was caught in a quandry when he realised he had bought stolen goods, a court heard.

Kennedy, 34, from Russell Road, Felixstowe panicked when he realised the alloy wheels he had bought could be stolen property and hid them instead of owning up to the police.

When police searched the premises of Felixstowe Motor Company they also found Kennedy in possession of £183 worth of cannabis.

He is no longer in charge of the business and it has been taken over by someone else.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to a charge of handling stolen property and possession of a controlled drug.

A further charge of handling stolen property was dropped.

Defending solicitor Michael Stephenson told the court that Kennedy had been running his own business in car sales at the time.

He said: "He is not in the habit of purchasing stolen goods.

"He said that two youths had showed him the wheels, he handed over the money but he did not know there was anything wrong.

"It was after they had taken the money that they opened the boot and showed him some other items."

Mr Stephenson said that Kennedy realised the goods were probably stolen and then jumped to the conclusion that the wheels were as well and challenged the youths about it before sending them away.

He said: "Stupidly, what he did not do was to say that he wanted his money back and give them the wheels back.

"He put the wheels into storage – he could not go to the company he believed they came from as he was worried the company would no longer trust him.

"He felt he could not go to the police because he felt he had put himself in the wrong.

"Because he was frightened he did not doing anything about it and he has now lost out.

"There is this handling offence and he has now lost money."

Mr Stephenson said that the cannabis found was purely for Kennedy's use as he has been suffering from stomach problems and found that the drug relieved the pain.

Kennedy was fined £150 for handling stolen property and fined a further £200 for possession of the cannabis.