“I was only holding it for someone,” was the response given by a young Mullingar man when gardaí found close to €800 worth of drugs at his home.
On January 20, on foot of a search warrant obtained as part of ongoing Garda investigations into the sale and supply of drugs, gardaí arrived at 25 Grove Court in Mullingar.
Detective Pat Thornton explained how Brendan McCabe was arrested at the scene and admitted some of the drugs were for his own personal use and some were to be collected by a person he was too afraid to name.
Gardaí found 2.96g of amphetamine valued at €4, one white ecstasy tablet worth €5, and almost 127g of cannabis valued at €761.
He said he’d been paid €50 to hold the drugs and was polite and cooperative during the search.
He has a previous conviction for possession of cannabis which the court heard he thought was legal because he’d bought it in a head shop.
The court heard he’d been using his room to divide up the drugs which were later collected.
The detective said he believed the 28-year-old had learned his lesson.
Mr Louis Kiernan said the father of one was on the bottom rung of the drugs ladder and didn’t intend to climb any higher.
An unemployed welder and fabricator, he was pleading guilty at the first opportunity.
Judge David Anderson adjourned the case to April for a community service report, indicating that if suitable, McCabe will complete 200 hours in lieu of a 10 month sentence
