Males with €6,000 medication consignment caught after taking fallacious lane

Two males have been caught with over €6,000 price of hashish after the motive force of the automobile entered a Letterkenny roundabout within the fallacious lane.

Ben Neill and Adam McClure got here to Donegal within the automobile by ferry and have been simply ‘driving round’ once they have been caught with the medication stash.

The pair averted custodial sentences once they appeared at Letterkenny District Court docket in reference to the haul.

The eye of Gardai was drawn to a Volkswagen Passat at Pearse Highway, Letterkenny on July 13, 2021.

McClure, the motive force of the automobile, failed a roadside medication take a look at after Garda Barbara Doherty detected a robust odor of hashish emanating from the automobile and he was taken to Letterkenny garda station.

Inspector Tony Byrne instructed the court docket that the automobile was searched and 307.6 grams of hashish was positioned. Subsequent evaluation indicated that the medication had a avenue worth of €6,150.

Inspector Byrne stated each males cooperated totally on the night time.

Ben Neill, aged 21 and with an tackle at Millbrook Manor, Ballymoney, County Antrim and Adam McClure, aged 21 with an tackle at Mcarthur Avenue, Ballymoney, County Antrim, each tendered responsible pleas.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) stated the matter could possibly be handled at District Court docket stage on the idea of responsible pleas.

Each males have been represented by Mr Ciaran O’Rourke BL, instructed by solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher.

Mr O’Rourke stated Neill has, always, admitted possession of the medication.

McClure, he stated, lives together with his father and works full-time as a welder having lately accomplished a four-year apprenticeship. He stated McClure allowed the medication to be stored within the automobile and was conscious of what the substance was.

“He is aware of what dangers he faces,” Mr O’Rourke stated, including that McClure will now have to search out an alternate option to get to work.

Mr O’Rourke stated: “These offences should be put in context. It was a silly act undertaken by two youngsters.”

Mr O’Rourke stated the pair took a ferry from Magilligan Level in Derry to Donegal and weren’t in Letterkenny for the aim of dealing medication.

“This was nothing greater than merely driving round,” Mr O’Rourke stated. “The medication have been positioned within the automobile earlier within the day. The medication have been coincidental.

“I’ve requested them for a proof and the one one that may be given is that they fell in with a foul crowd on the time. They’ve turned away from drug use and these actions can solely be defined because the silly actions of youngsters.”

Neill, a sandblaster who lives together with his uncle, has a associate for the final three years, the court docket heard. Neill has lately served a ten-month jail sentence in Northern Eire having been convicted of the possession of medicine for the aim of promoting or in any other case supplying the medication to a different. He was launched for ten months on licence.

Mr O’Rourke stated that jail was ‘very laborious’ on Neill, however had assisted in getting him off medication.

He requested Decide Ciaran Liddy to think about a non-custodial sentence and tendered an apology on behalf of his purchasers.

Decide Ciaran Liddy stated the worth of the medication meant that the case was on the ‘higher finish’ of the jurisdiction of the District Court docket.

Decide Liddy instructed Neill that, provided that he was beforehand convicted for the possession of medicine for the aim of promoting or supplying, that he ‘actually ought to have identified higher’. A probation report in respect of Neill was described as being ‘very optimistic’.

Decide Liddy stated the truth that the medication have been transported from one other jurisdiction by ferry additionally needed to be factored in. He sentenced Neill to 12 months imprisonment for the possession of medicine for the aim of promoting or in any other case supplying the medication to a different. The sentence was suspended in its entirety for a interval of two years. A cost of possessing a managed drug was marked as taken under consideration by Decide Liddy.

The Decide stated McClure was ‘very younger’ on the time of the incident and famous that he was gainfully employed as a welder. He ceded to Mr O’Rourke’s request to simply accept an enchantment to a cost of possession, a lesser cost than one in every of possession for the aim of promoting or in any other case supplying.

McClure was fined €500 for the possession of hashish. For the drug driving cost, McClure was disqualified from driving for one 12 months with the ban to start on December 2.

Decide Liddy directed a destruction order in respect of the medication.

Males with €6,000 medication consignment caught after taking fallacious lane was final modified: November 2nd, 2023 by Workers Author