Co Tyrone teenager who sold drugs to a fellow student for £30 on school premises, placed on Probation
A Co Tyrone teenager who told police he brought drugs into a Dungannon school and sold them to a fellow student for £30, has been placed on Probation for 18 months.
Nineteen-year-old student Matthew Kyle from Glendavagh Road, Aughnacloy, admitted supplying the Class B drug ADB-Butinaca, and possessing the drug on January 26 last year.
He also admitted a charge of attempted possession of the Class B drug THC (a form of cannabis) on October 18 last year.
Dungannon Magistrates Court heard on Friday that police were called after a bag containing drugs and vape pen was found in the school grounds on January 26.
Prosecuting counsel said Kyle later made an admission to the principal that they were his and told police he had purchased the drugs from a friend in Enniskillen and sold them to a fellow student in the school for £30.
Continuing, the lawyer said on October 18 police received a report from a local supermarket relating to receiving a package with the defendant’s name on it.
He said Kyle later came in and asked if a package had come for him and claimed it using his driving licence to identify himself.
Counsel said the package contained the prohibited Class B drug THC vapes and ‘gummies’.
When interviewed Kyle admitted ordering the THC but not the ‘gummies’ which he believed was a bonus for placing the order, added counsel.
A defence lawyer said the defendant was continuing his studies and working as a part-time delivery driver for a pizza chain.
He explained his parents both appeared with him in court and were “very disappointed” with him and had read him the “riot act”.
Counsel said they were also “watching him like a hawk” to ensure he was not using cannabis.
He pointed out that Probation considered him a low likelihood of re-offending.
Pleading with the court for leniency, he added that a suspended sentence would not reflect well on his record.
Deputy District Judge Sean O’Hare told Kyle that the charges were serious and carried a custodial sentence.
Mr O’Hare said the defendant had been “coy” in ordering the drugs to be delivered to a different address.
He said it was deliberate behaviour which suggested some deeper problem that needed addressed and Probation would give him “pause to consider”.