Judge praises PSNI officer who offered to pay for Polish woman's flight home after she was spotted sleeping in her car near Portadown, Craigavon court hears

Adriana Karina Hanzel, aged 50, of no fixed abode, Tralee, Co Kerry, appeared in custody in the dock before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

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She was charged with being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drink/drugs and possession of the Class B drug Amphetamine on June 10, 2025 in the Mullahead Road area of Portadown.

Hanzel’s barrister Mr David McKeown said his client pleaded guilty to both charges.

The court heard that on Tuesday, June 10, at around 11.10am police received a report of a woman sleeping in a car on the towpath near the Mullahead Road, Portadown.

When police arrived the defendant was sleeping in the driver’s seat. “She was sweating and appeared to have large pupils and was acting erratically,” a Prosecutor told the court.

During a search of the defendant and the car they found tinfoil wraps containing white powder which turned out to be Amphetamine when tested.

Mr McKeown said this was a “very sad set of affairs”. He revealed Hanzel had been living with friends in Kerry. “She came north, effectively looking a better life,” he said.

She wasn’t able to find accommodation or a job and had been living in her car and is down to her last 600 euro, the court heard. “As a result she was living where she was found,” he said, adding she had a small amount of amphetamine to “get her through her difficulty”.

"It seems foolish but she held her hands up to that immediately. She is petrified of any sort of custodial sentence,” he said.

"She has realised this isn’t going to work out,” said Mr McKeown, who added that a “very kind police officer” has offered to pay for her flight home.

He added that Hanzel is planning to get her car out of the impound, which will reduce her funds, sell it and go back to Poland.

"She has actually arrived here today, and one of the strangest sights I have ever seen in the cells, with every earthly possession she owns. It took 45 minutes to check her in as a result,” he said, asking the court to show leniency in the circumstances.

Regarding the officer who offered to pay for the defendant’s flights, District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: “Commendation to that officer from the court. It is an extremely humane attitude the officer has taken.”

Speaking to the defendant he said: “The court is aware there is a very unfortunate background to this offending. The reality is that Ms Hanzel wants to return to her home country with the assistance of police.”

He gave the defendant 10 penalty points which will be applied to the NI Driving database. “There will be no separate fine so that Ms Hanzel can get her car sold and leave the jurisdiction.

"But as a protective measure there will be a suspended term of imprisonment for possession of Class B,” he said, sentencing her to one month in prison, suspended for one year.

"In the unlikely event that Ms Hanzel remains in Northern Ireland and breaches that suspended sentence then she will have to go to prison,” he said.