Police seize cocaine and five bin bags of fireworks

A young South Derry man found with a quantity of cocaine valued at approximately £600, has been given a three-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Dungannon CourthouseDungannon Courthouse
Dungannon Courthouse

Twenty-three-year-old James Marshall from Draperstown Road, Tobermore, was also fined £250 with a £15 offender levy for possessing fireworks without a licence.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said the custody threshold had been passed but he would suspend the custodial sentence given the defendant’s clear record.

Prosecution counsel told Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday that on May 1 this year, police carried out a search at the defendant’s home address under the misuse of drugs act.

She said that during the search the defendant handed to police a plastic bag containing a white substance which was 8.03grams of cocaine, with an approximate value of £600.

The lawyer said Marshall also informed police about the fireworks.

She said police seized five bin bags each containing approximately 50 fireworks of different sizes and shapes.

A defence lawyer pointed out that the defendant was a young man with no relevant criminal record.

He said he had purchased the cocaine for his own personal use and had been forthright with police during interview.

The lawyer said police had seized three or four phones belonging to the defendant and they were triaged and came back negative.

Continuing, the lawyer said the defendant “holds his hands up” to possessing the fireworks without a licence.

He explained that he had been stockpiling them as it was coming up to the Halloween period.

The defendant is a hardworking and industrious young man who worked on his father’s farm and with another business, the lawyer stressed.

He explained that for these reasons he would not be a suitable candidate for a Probation disposal.

Pleading for leniency, the lawyer asked the court to take into account Marshall’s previous clear record and for his early plea to the charges.

Imposing the penalties, District Judge Ranaghan made a destruction order in respect of the cocaine and fireworks.