Man had five pregabalin tablets in hoodie pocket

A South Derry man found with 1.6 grams of cannabis and five pregabalin tablets, has been placed on Probation for 12 months at Magherafelt Magistrates Court on Wednesday last.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Sean McKenna (26), of William Street, Bellaghy, admitted charges of possessing the drugs on January 21.

District Judge Oonagh Mullan told McKenna, who appeared in court via video link from his solicitor’s office, that to his credit he was working with addiction counsellors.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She ordered him to work with the Probation officer and attend any programmes or courses recommended.

The court heard the offences came to light when police attended an address at Ashgrove Park in Magherafelt and spoke to McKenna who was in the living room area.

Counsel said officers found herbal cannabis which McKenna admitted belonged to him, and the search also located five pregabalin tablets in the pocket of his hoodie.

She said the defendant made no reply and in interview he said he did not know where he had got the pregabalin but used them to self medicate for withdrawal symptoms from codeine.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Defence lawyer Michael Forde said the defendant has a long and tragic history in relation to drug misuse.

Mr Forde said he hoped the court would dispose of the matter by imposing a community based order as the defendant has been working with the addiction service to overcome his problem.

Editor’s message:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.