Judge rails at drugs scourge as he sends hijack duo to prison

A CROWN Court judge spoke of lives “blighted by addictions to prescription and so-called recreational drugs” as he sentenced two men who hijacked a car after consuming a cocktail of drugs and alcohol.

Sending the pair to jail for two-and-a-half years, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said many of those who came before the court found themselves in the dock due to the influence of drugs.

Belfast Crown Court heard yesterday that both Paul McKenna Reid (28) and Christopher Ferguson (31) had substance issues and had both used drugs prior to hijacking a car parked at Stranmillis Embankment last October.

The owner of the Vauxhall Corsa had parked on the embeen bankment on the evening of October 18, and at 8.20am the following day he returned to get his vehicle when two men approached.

While Reid, from Curran Lane in Larne, told the motorist to get out of his car and hand him the keys, Ferguson, from Belfast’s Antrim Road, told him to get out of the way or he would be killed.

A Crown prosecutor said as Reid tried to drive the car off, the wheels started spinning after getting stuck on the grass verge. A passing police patrol was flagged down by the owner.

Reid and Ferguson were arrested at the scene, while the motorist was left “shaken-up” but otherwise unharmed.

The pair appeared intoxicated, and officers took Reid to hospital. He was not fit to be interviewed for a further eight hours.

Later, Ferguson said he had influenced by Reid — however the Crown prosecutor said the case was being treated as a joint enterprise.

A defence barrister for Reid accepted the hijacking was a serious offence, but said there was “no level of premeditation or sophistication”.

A solicitor representing Ferguson said the main reason the offence occurred was due to a “cocktail of drugs and no doubt alcohol” having been consumed.

Judge Miller said Reid and Ferguson were “caught bang to rights” and that the police patrol stopped them from potentially putting other road users at risk.

Judge Miller spoke of how so many lives were “blighted” by drug addiction, adding that this incident would have been “frightening and distressing” for the motorist.