A 32-year-old man told a Magistrate that he was waiting for cigarettes when he was caught breaching the 10pm to 6pm curfew.
Richard Dill, 52, admitted the charge in Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The court heard that at around 9.55pm on Wednesday, five minutes before curfew, police on patrol noticed two men talking on Court Street in Hamilton.
They were warned that they had to be home by curfew.
The officers saw them sitting on a wall in the same area about 1.15am and approached them for questioning.
Dill told the officers: “I gave someone money to get me cigarettes and I’m not leaving until he comes back.”
His parole officer said his client would struggle to pay a fine because he was unemployed and living in a shelter.
Magistrate Craig Attridge said the offence might be better dealt with through community service.
But he said that was difficult to arrange because of pandemic restrictions.
The case was adjourned for two weeks and Dill was released on $3,000 bail with orders to observe the curfew.
