Judge with prison threat for ‘small scale’ drug dealer

A BELFAST man caught by police with over 500 Lyrica tablets was yesterday handed a sixmonth sentence suspended for three years.

Judge Patricia Smyth warned Liam Francis Clarke that if he committed any further offences in the next three years he will go to prison for a “long time”.

Clarke (26), of Cherry Walk, Dunmurry, had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of a possessing a Class C drug with intent to supply.

Belfast Crown Court heard police on patrol in east Belfast, on February 23, 2019 observed Clarke standing at the junction of the Albertbridge Road and Woodstock Road talking to a man and holding a carrier bag before he passed something to the unknown male.

When challenged by police, Clarke ran off into the Short Strand area.

Clarke was subsequently observed by police in Clandeboye Gardens and was carrying an identical carrier bag. He fled again but was later arrested by police.

Inside the bag police found 575 Pregabalin tablets — also known as Lyrica — and 32 broken tablets.

Judge Smyth told Clarke: “You are a small scale street drug dealer and people like you sell drugs on the streets, often to children.

“Drug dealers like you think only of yourselves and don’t think of the lives you are helping to destroy.”

The judge said Clarke had a long history of mental ill-health and polysubstance misuse and his drug misuse was a contributory factor in his mental illhealth.

A report by a psychiatrist stated that Clarke relied on his mother for support but also put his family “under pressure financially in order to access drugs”.

Judge Smyth told the defendant: “No doubt Mr Clarke you have put your mother through hell.”

The court heard that Clarke has 40 previous convictions, mostly for drug offences, one of which was in January 2018 when he brought drugs into a local prison.

“If you want to destroy your own life that is a choice you can make but this court will not let you destroy the lives of others by selling drugs,” said Judge Smyth.

She added that she did not believe a short prison sentence would protect the public from his dealing and had decided to impose a suspended sentence.

“You have three years to prove that you are capable of not destroying the lives of others,” said Judge Smyth.

The court also ordered the destruction of the seized drugs.

❝ You have three years to prove that you are capable of not destroying the lives of others by selling drugs