Craigavon judge doubts man is 'squeaky clean' after he hears suspected drugs fell from the buttocks of a Lurgan native returning to prison
Suspected drugs fell from the buttocks of a man who had just returned to jail following the birth of his child, a court has heard.
Lurgan native Jamie Geddis, aged 35, with an address at Rockmount Close, Newry, appeared via video link from Maghaberry Prison before Craigavon Magistrates Court seeking bail.
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He faces a number of charges including aggravated taking of a vehicle causing injury to another person, common assault on the same man, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance in Portadown, criminal damage to a flower stand and flowers and theft of a bottle of Buckfast on November 25 last year.
A PSNI constable opposed bail, adding there were difficulties getting a statement from the complainant in the case.
The officer confirmed that Geddis had been released on compassionate bail recently for the birth of his child. When he returned to jail on February 6, a police liaison officer revealed he had failed an X-ray body scan.
"During a full body search by staff, an object, wrapped in clear plastic, has fallen from his buttocks. It is not known what the substance is but believed to be drugs,” said the police officer, adding the object weighed 13.7 grams and is suspected to be Subutex and diazepam but that has to be confirmed.
The officer said Geddis has 17 bail breaches including two last year and two the year before. He also has five previous bench warrants and 145 previous convictions.
Geddis’ barrister, Mr Conor Lunny, said that prior to these latest allegations, Geddis had been doing “relatively well”. He added that Geddis, since he was a juvenile, has been an addict of various substances.
Mr Lunny said: "He is applying to be released to the house in Newry to live with his partner and new born. He’s a Lurgan man originally, from Taghnevan and spent most of his life there,” said Mr Lunny.
“Lurgan and he, at this stage, don’t go well together. There are a number of elements in Lurgan. He knows a number of people but I’m not saying he is always led astray given the thickness of his criminal record.
"Extracting him from the Lurgan, north Armagh area has shown he can stay out of trouble,” said Mr Lunny.
Mr Lunny said his client is contesting the prison allegations. He said his client claims he passed the body scan and was in a holding room with another individual who was also being returned to prison. That individual asked him to hold onto that package whilst that individual went in for another check. It was then he was caught with the package.
"His instructions are that he didn’t convey the package into the prison,” said Mr Lunny.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan described Geddis’ record as “appalling”.
"His defence for concealing the items somewhere and them being found by police is that he was intending to supply them to somebody. If you get compassionate bail from any court, that court expects you to be squeaky clean, and I use the word ‘squeaky’ advisedly given where that was found.
"I cannot be certain that this man was at all squeaky clean around his compassionate bail. Mr Geddis will never get a compassionate bail from me again,” he said, denying bail.
The case was adjourned until March 7