A man was warned when he came before Galway Court on a cannabis possession charge, that getting the benefit of the Probation Act meant he was now “on the radar” and if he reoffended, there would be much more serious consequences for him.
When Judge John King was told by defence solr Sean Acton that his client rarely used cannabis, the Judge replied that he didn’t want to hear that he rarely used it, he wanted to hear that he didn’t use it at all.
The Court heard that on November 25 last a plain-clothes Garda encountered the defendant on Merchants Road and noticed a strong smell of cannabis from him. A search revealed he was in possession of cannabis resin to the value of €30.
Mr Acton said his client was a 28-year-old Egyptian national who was in the country for three years. He had no income and resided at Great Western House in the city. He had fully co-operated with the Gardaí and wanted to deal with the matter at the earliest opportunity.
Applying the Probation Act, as it was a first offence, Judge King said: “He has to understand that he cannot use illicit drugs in this country,” and warned him that he was now “on the radar” and would not get off so lightly if he came before the court on another drug charge.
