Claimed drugs were for his personal use

A 34-year-old man has been convicted of two charges of possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Gary Bailey, 14 Grange Close, Muirhevnamór, had denied the accusations which stemmed from separate incidents last year.

He did plead guilty to unlawful possession of Alprazolam (Xanax) at Drive One, Muirhevnamór on 3 October, 2018, and to the same offence at Dundalk garda station on 17 December last.

Dundalk court heard Bailey had become addicted to Xanax following a serious accident, and would take between eight and 40 tablets per-day depending if he had the money.

He testified to having had €20 on a horse which won at 20/1 at the time of the offences in October, while on the other occasion he had received double dole before Christmas.

Garda Aaron King gave evidence that on 3 October, 2018, Bailey was in an alleyway off the Avenue Road, and when he saw gardaí he began to sprint.

He was apprehended a short distance away, and a small amount of tablets were found on him.

He was arrested at 7pm under the Misuse of Drugs Act and brought to the garda station where a further search yielded more tablets in two glasses cases which were concealed on his person.

Gda King said there was a total of 478 tablets in blister packs.

Cross-examined by solicitor Rory Eakin, the witness said two mobile phones Bailey had were not analysed but ‘ he refused to unlock one’.

Gda King said he couldn’t comment if the accused was addicted to Xanax. He did make a reference during an interview that the drugs were for personal use.

Mr Eakin handed in articles which said a person addicted to Xanax could take between 20 and thirty a day, and while the drugs in this case might seem like a large quantity they were for his client’s personal use.

He is 6’ 3” and had a higher threshold due to his size.

The officer replied he couldn’t comment on Gary Bailey’s drug use.

Garda Gerard Blaine told the court that on 17 December he saw the defendant cycling along Tom Bellew Avenue.

He called out to speak to him but Bailey changed direction and cycled off.

At an alleyway leading to Park One, Muirhevnamór, he got out of his vehicle and approached the defendant on foot. Bailey appeared nervous.

He was taken to the garda station where Gda Blaine said 220 Xanax tablets in blister packs and four more tablets in a wallet were found on him, as well as €40 cash in small denominations.

Judge Cheatle was told each tablet was worth approximately €2.

Gda Blaine replied to the solicitor that he didn’t witness Bailey supplying any tablets.

He claimed to him that he was addicted to the drug.

Gary Bailey gave evidence that he was unemployed and on €205 per-week disability benefit.

He had become addicted to Xanax four or five years ago after an accident in which he fell out of a third storey window.

His pelvis was shattered, he broke all of his ribs and his hand ‘ had to be sewn back on’. He also suffered an injury to his arm as well as nerve damage.

He got treatment for his addiction in the Market Street clinic and Turas, and ‘ tried every doctor in town to get detox off Xanax’.

The accused added his intake of the drug could range from eight to 40 tablets each day if he had the money.

In October he won €400 on a horse after having €20 on it at 20/1, while in December he got ‘double pay for Christmas’.

The 470 tablets he had in October cost him €280. He had got the bet up that day.

Bailey told Inspector Liam Archbold that he wasn’t a drug dealer.

He never had a prescription for Xanax, though ‘I asked plenty of doctors for it’.

The accused admitted having two Xanax tablets at 10am on the day of the court hearing ‘ to take the edge off ’.

While Judge Cheatle said he accepted Bailey had an addiction problem, the sheer amount of drugs couldn’t be accounted for by way of the horses or social welfare.

He convicted him on each of the Section 15 charges.

The judge heard there were previous convictions for possession of drugs for sale or supply, possession of drugs, possession of knives, public order and road traffic matters.

Mr Eakin said his client’s efforts to address his drug problem were not successful.

He had pleaded guilty to unlawful possession from the outset, and the solicitor asked the court to seek a probation report before setting down sentence.

Judge Cheatle imposed a sixmonth sentence for the second supply charge. He suspended it for 12 months on Bailey entering a probation bond for that period.

The other charges were taken into consideration.

A destruction order was made for the drugs.