Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt's son fined £250 for cocaine possession

The son of former health secretary Patricia Hewitt was fined £250 today after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine.

Nicholas Hewitt Birtles, 21, apologised through his solicitor to his family and said he was "deeply distressed" about the consequences of his actions for them.

He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Birtles, a retail sales representative, was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car in Camden Square in north London when it was approached by police on September 19, Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court heard.