DISTRICT COURT ROUND-UP
From our reporter at Sligo Courthouse
Probation Act for 20-year-old man
A young Sligo man who pleaded guilty to a charge of using threatening and abusive behaviour has been given the Probation Act at the district court.
Twenty-year-old Odhran McMorrow, Collery Drive, pleaded guilty to the offence that happened at Devins Drive, Cranmore, in July 2019. Sergeant Derek Butler told the court the defendant was a co-accused, related to a more serious matter on the date in question.
Defence solicitor Edmund Henry said his client was not the main player in this incident and he had been backing up his brother.
The defendant, who has one previous conviction, was given the Probation Act.
Burglary occurred ‘when man was out walking his dog’
A Sligo man who pleaded guilty to stealing items from a neighbouring house has been given a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years at the district court. Thirty-nine-year-old Lee Young, Garavogue Villas, admitted charges of stealing a Lenovo laptop, valued at €700, a Bosch toolbag and a cordless drill from Sligo Scaffolding, Cleveragh, on October 1, 2019.
Sergeant Derek Butler told the court the defendant entered the property in the early hours of the date in question.
CCTV of the alleged incident was examined later, and the defendant was identified, and he made full admissions to gardaí.
All of the stolen items were recovered, the court heard.
Defence solicitor Gerry McGovern said the defendant had his own battles with addiction issues over the years with drink and drugs. He had gone through a gap in a wall beside his own house and had “very little memory” of the incident. This type of offence of burglary was out of character for the defendant.
The defendant told the court he had been off drugs for four months. He said he was out of his head when this matter occurred.
Judge Kilrane noted that the items stolen were heavy to carry and it was not something that “someone in the horrors” would be able to do.
The judge said it was simply a burglary carried out in the way that a thief does, and he then stored the items in his home.
Mr McGovern said the defendant was very co-operative and did not try to hide anything.
The defendant told the court he “vaguely” remembered taking the items.
He said he went out for a walk with his dog and it happened.
“You made it happen,” said the judge. The judge said it was an “opportunistic crime”.
Judge Kilrane said the defendant had 22 previous convictions and should go to jail ordinarily.
The judge said the defendant claimed to be drug-free.
It was a “nasty crime” and the only mitigating factors were that he did not dispose of the goods and co-operated with the gardaí.
Judge Kilrane gave the defendant a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years so long as he was not convicted of any indictable offence within that period. The judge told him if he re-offended within that two-year period he would serve the nine months in jail.
The defendant was released on his own bond of €100.
Charge of dealing ‘herbal cocaine’ is dismissed by judge
A Cranmore man who denied having what was described in court as €1,700 of “herbal cocaine” had a charge of having the drugs for sale or supply dismissed at Sligo District Court.
Thirty-eight-year-old Dwayne Gethins pleaded guilty to possession of what he charge sheet described as cocaine and also guilty to possession of cannabis herb at Ballydrehid, Ballisodare, on May 8, 2018.
The defendant, who has 26 previous convictions, was given a fourmonth jail sentence for possession of cocaine suspended for two years so long as he was not convicted of any illegal drugs offences in that period. The charge of possession of cannabis herb valued at €40 was taken into consideration.
He denied the sale or supply charge of cocaine on May 8, 2018.
The defendant disputed the value of what he and gardaí in court described as “herbal cocaine”, also known as “Wildcat”, saying he had bought the drugs for between €350 and €400.
Prosecuting gardaí rejected this claim, saying they had valued the drugs at around €1,700.
Garda Tighe gave evidence of stopping a car in which the defendant was a front-seat passenger on the date and location in question. He asked the defendant to step out of the car and found cannabis herb and the “herbal cocaine” hidden in the defendant’s underpants.
The garda said the defendant told him it was “herbal cocaine”.
The defendant told the garda that he had paid €350 for the drug.
The garda said it was valued at around €1,700.
The defendant was later arrested on October 17, 2019, and he told the gardaí he had bought the drugs on the dark web for €350 to €400.
Defence solicitor Mr McGovern asked why it took almost a year and a half to talk to him.
The garda said that tests were carried out on the drugs.
Mr McGovern said his client had co-operated fully and there was no related paraphenalia like note- books or phone numbers which would be associated with sale or supply of drugs.
Dwayne Gethins told the court he had told the gardaí the truth. He said: “I am a drug taker and not a drug dealer.” He said he had sold his car after he was put off the road and blew all his money on drugs. He added that no garda could say they saw him selling drugs in Sligo, but they could see him taking drugs. He said the drugs were for his own use.
Inspector Karen Duffy asked the defendant if he had bought the drugs through the post.
He said he was living on the streets and he bought them online.
The inspector said he should have a receipt.
The defendant said he paid cash and had no receipts.
He added that the cannabis herb was €40 and it came with the “herbal cocaine”.
He denied that he intended to sell the drugs on to someone else.
The defendant said he had been on cocaine for three to four years and had previously bought the “herbal cocaine” from a head shop.
It was pointed out that these premises were closed for a long time.
The defendant denied that he and the man who gave him a lift in his car from Ballisodare had been sniffing the drugs, when asked by Judge Kilrane.
The inspector said the drugs had ben concealed in the defendant’s underwear and €1,700 of drugs was a huge amount for personal use.
The defendant said he had bought the drugs online but had no receipts. The inspector said she believed he was buying the drugs to sell in Sligo town.
Judge Kilrane said the defendant said the drugs were for his own use and it would take him three weeks get through the full amount.
The judge said he could not say whether this was true or not.
Judge Kilrane said that usually there were ‘badges’ that were indicators that drug dealing was going on. These included notebooks or phone numbers of recipients but these were absent in this case.
The judge said there was “a lot of suspicion” but he had a “little doubt” and he must give it to the defendant and he dismissed the charge of having cocaine (as per court document) for sale or supply.
Jail for man, 43, who defecated in garda van
A Sligo father-of-one who urinated and defecated in the cell of the Ballymote Garda Station has been jailed for a total of eight months. Forty-three-year-old Graham O’Grady, with an address at Union Place, Sligo, also defecated in a
Garda prison van while en route to the station and assaulted duty manager Ciaran McLaughlin at Quayside Shopping Centre in a separate incident, the district court heard.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all these charges as well as related public order charges, at Sligo District Court.
Sergeant Derek Butler told the court the defendant entered Dealz in Quayside Shopping on August 21 last year and began throwing items from the shelves and using abusive language.
He was taken outside by duty manager Ciaran McLaughlin. He headbutted and spat at the manager, the court heard.
He was taken to Ballymote Garda station, where he urinated against the cell door.
On June 15 last year, the defendant was using threatening and abusive behaviour in Wine Street and threatened the families of gardaí when they arrived on the scene. En route to Ballymote, the defendant defecated in the van. He urinated in the cell of the station.
It cost the State €800 to deep-clean the prison van and the cell in Ballymote, the court heard.
The defendant had 43 previous convictions.
Defence solicitor Tom MacSharry said his client was deeply apologetic to gardaí. The father-of-one had struggled with alcohol for most of his life. These offences were over a two-month period in the summer when he had a serious relapse with alcohol.
Since then, he had changed and engaged with Aubrey Melville and Social Ground Force and had been sober over Christmas, which can be a difficult time.
The defendant was very much attached to his 11-year-old son and was a “good father”, the court heard.
The defendant was asking for one last chance to stay sober.
Judge Kevin Kilrane said the defendant had a matter in Donegal Circuit Court in December
2019, where he got a suspended jail sentence, and he was out again on June 15, 2020, causing trouble in Wine Street and the court had heard what he had done at Ballymote Garda Station.
He had then carried out an assault on August 21 and was back again at the station in Ballymote, doing what he was doing.
The judge said that criminal damage was an indictable offence. Mr MacSharry said the incidents happened over a two-month period when the defendant was abusing alcohol.
“How often do we have to keep an eye on this man?” asked Judge Kilrane.
The defendant said he was just after getting a house. He said he was “awfully sorry” and would do anything the court asked to stay out of jail.
He said: “I will do anything for the court. I am sorry for what happened with the gardaí. I want to live my life in peace.”
Judge Kevin Kilrane said the defendant could “not be given any more chances”.
The judge said he had been given a chance in Donegal Circuit Court last December but was offending again last June, was then released on bail but was “at it again” in August.
The judge jailed the defendant for four months for causing criminal damage in Ballymote Garda Station on June 15 last year.
He gave the defendant a fourmonth consecutive sentence for assaulting Ciaran McLaughlin at Quayside Shopping Centre.
The defendant was given a fourmonth concurrent jail sentence for causing criminal damage to a cell in Ballymote Station on August 21. Related public order charges of using threatening and abusive behaviour and being drunk and a danger to himself and others on those dates were taken into consideration.