Man had cannabis valued at £1,000 in car

A SION Mills man who had cannabis with an estimated street value of £1,000 in his car told police that he had bought it in bulk for his own personal use, Strabane Magistrates Court has heard.

Gerald Smith (41), of Alexandra Place, pleaded guilty to possessing a Class B controlled drug, namely cannabis, on August 23, 2021.

Smith also pleaded guilty to further charges of possessing cannabis on November 6, 2021 and again on December 11, 2021.

The court heard that, in connection with the offence on December 11, the defendant’s car was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act after officers detected a “strong smell” of cannabis coming from within the vehicle.

Two ounces of suspected cannabis were seized from the engine compartment, which police estimated had a street value of £1,000.

During a subsequent interview, the defendant claimed he had paid £250 for the cannabis, adding that he bought in bulk for his own personal use.

Defending counsel, Dean Mooney, told the court that his client had pleaded guilty to all matters and a “thorough and full” pre-sentence report had been prepared in the case.

In mitigation, the barrister said that Smith had been through a “particularly turbulent” time, leading to a significant deterioration in his mental health.

Instead of going through the proper avenues, Mr Mooney said that the defendant turned to cannabis and developed a “significant habit”.

The barrister said that Smith had been “very forthright about this” with the author of the pre-sentence report.

Mr Mooney said it was accepted that the defendant had mental health difficulties, but “hasn’t gone about dealing with those in the proper way hitherto”.

But the barrister said that Smith was now willing to address his addiction and had already attended five appointments in an effort to address his problems.

Acknowledging that the defendant had also breached a number of suspended sentences, Mr Mooney told the court that these had been imposed for offences of a different nature and that “unfortunately” he had a “bad domestic-type history”.

Observing that the defendant had displayed “heavy drug use”, District Judge, John Connolly, activated the various suspended sentences in part and jailed Smith for a total of six months. The defendant was later released on his own bail of £250, pending an appeal of the sentence.

Under the terms of the bail, Smith must reside at his home address and abide by a curfew between midnight and 6am.