Offaly man given suspended sentence for drugs possession

A KILCORMAC man was given a suspended prison sentence for drugs possession during a recent Tullamore Court sitting.

Before the court was Roy Dunican, 25 Mooney Terrace Kilcormac, and he was charged with being in possession of a controlled drug, Amphetamine, on December 12, 2020 at 25 Mooney Terrace, Kilcormac.

The defending solicitor Donal Farrelly told the court that his client was contesting the case.

A Detective Garda told the court that in July 2020 he applied for a drugs search warrant from Judge Staines and received it.

“On December 20, 2020 I put the warrant into effect,” he said.

“The front door of 25 Mooney Terrace was open. We entered and found the defendant and a woman in bed. Beside the bed was a table and on the table were two bags containing a white powder. The woman told us she knew nothing about the bags or their contents. The defendant said the powder was paracetamol. I put this statement in my notebook but he refused to sign it.

“On May 17, 2022 the bags were delivered to the FSI (Forensic Science Ireland) in Garda Headquarters in Dublin where they were analysed. Up until the bags were delivered to FSI they were kept in our safe in the station and no one else had access to them. The FSI analysis revealed that the bags contained €50 of Amphetamine.”

Mr Farrelly asked the Garda how many people were living in 25 Mooney Terrace on December 12. The Garda said Mr Dunican's brother and father were also living there.

“Did you ask the brother and the father if the drugs in fact belonged to them?” Mr Farrelly asked, adding that both his client and his client's girlfriend denied being in possession of the drugs.

“I didn't ask the brother or father,” said the witness. “I asked Roy Dunican if it was an illegal drug in the bags. He said it wasn't. I asked, who owns the bags? He said, 'No'. On the day we searched the house both the brother and the father were uncooperative, therefore we felt there was no point asking them if they owned the bags.”

Mr Farrelly said his client had no case to answer because he didn't own the bags. “The evidence is circumstantial. A Detective Garda went into the house on December 12 and couldn't ascertain who actually owned the drugs.” Judge John O'Leary disagreed. “I feel your client has a case to answer.”

Giving evidence Roy Dunican told the court that the bags didn't belong to him.

Having listened to Mr Dunican Judge O'Leary said he believed the defendant's evidence was unreliable “to say the least. How did he know it was paracetamol in the bags if the bags weren't his? There is no doubt in my mind that the bags were his. I therefore convict.”

Sgt James O'Sullivan said Mr Dunican had 14 previous convictions, two of them for possession of illegal drugs.

Mr Farrelly said his client is 28 years of age and is presently in custody awaiting a sentence in the Circuit Court.

Judge O'Leary sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended for six months.

“Your client is on a slippery slope Mr Farrelly,” the Judge warned. “He is now in the imprisonment zone.”