The whiff of cannabis from a Kilkelly man’s car landed him before the local district court last week.
Joseph O’Donnell, with an address at 44 Bar na Trimogue, Kilkelly, was stopped by gardaí on October 21 last after he was spotted using his mobile phone while driving.
However, it was the smell of cannabis wafting from his car that prompted a search of the vehicle, which uncovered a small amount of cannabis under the gear stick.
Judge Alan Mitchell said in Castlebar District Court this week that although the amount in question was small - valued at just €5.60 - he was concerned that someone had obviously been smoking cannabis in the car, even if it was not the defendent himself.
Twenty-seven-year-old O’Donnell has one previous conviction under the Misuse of Drugs Act dating back to 2006.
Solicitor for O’Donnell, Linda Lenihan, said her client had not engaged in this type of behaviour for some time. He was not smoking cannabis in the car.
She said the amount found on the floor of the vehicle was ‘minute’ and could have belonged either to the defendent or to a friend.
Judge Mitchell ordered O’Donnell to pay €300 to the St Vincent de Paul and granted him a conditional discharge, ordering him to enter into a probation bond for 12 months.
