A local judge has said it should be within the court’s power to order drug testing as he remanded a Derry man accused of drug dealing into custody.
The comments were made by District Judge Barney McElholm as he dealt with a man who admitted having a £20 a day cannabis habit.
The defendant was granted anonymity due to a generalised threat which is said to exist in the city.
He was charged with possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing an indecent photo of a child.
A police officer told the court that material found on a number of phones led the PSNI to believe that he was involved in drugs supply. On March 21 police entered his house with force when he and his girlfriend were present.
Numerous small bags containing suspected cannabis were seized worth £100 along with other deal bags, £1,000 in cash, a large amount of packaging was also under his sofa which police believe contained a large amount of cannabis due to its smell and traces of cannabis.
A ‘suspected debt list’ was also found, 3,500 cigarettes from a Chinese manufacturer, and two mobile phones. One was described as a ‘burner type phone’ by the officer which contained ‘relevant material in relation to the supply of class B drugs’.
The PSNI officer also said one of the phones had a note that was last modified on March 20 which detailed debt of £4,360 ‘owed to him’. He said the defendant made the case that £900 of this was money he owed out.
During police interview the man was said to have admitted supplying cannabis for the past year to around thirty people and admitted smoking £20 worth of cannabis every day.
The officer said the accused gets £440 yet he smokes £20 of cannabis a day which would cost £160 more than he earns and had managed to save £1,000 in cash for a holiday.
Regarding the image of the child, the defendant recalled receiving a video from someone who sends ‘loads’ of videos and he commented on it.
Bail was objected to due to a ‘real risk of reoffending’ and interfering with the course of justice.
The court heard the defendant has no previous criminal record.
Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said the image of the child was sent by someone else in a WhatsApp group and this individual is being prosecuted for it. He added that, somewhat unusually, the defendant had accepted he supplied cannabis and had gone further by providing a specific number of people he had been supplying to – thirty.
Requesting bail, Mr Quigley said there were likely to be delays in the case and it could take six to twelve months before reports are completed.
Cheerful admissions
District Judge Barney McElholm said it was not unusual for someone with a clear record to appear charged with drug offences. He added that the accused ‘cheerfully admitted dealing over the last twelve months’ and he believed the defendant couldn’t finance a £20 a day habit ‘without continuing to deal’.
Bail would be an option, Judge McElholm suggested, if the court was able to direct that drug tests be carried out every two days.
Refusing bail, he said the accused has ‘clearly been dealing to a fair extent’ and ‘needs a period of confinement to get off drugs’.
“There should be a facility for the court to order drug testing but we’re told, who will fund it? Society has to make its mind a decision about what way it wants to go forward.”
The case was adjourned to a court sitting next month when the defendant will appear by way of video link
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