'You don’t want to go down the same path as your brother' Craigavon judge tells Cookstown man who pleaded guilty to drug possession

Tiarnan Scullion, aged 30, from Molesworth Street, Cookstown, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with possession of the Class C drug pregabalin.

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The court heard that police received a report regarding a concern for safety for an unknown male lying on the grass at Manor Drive, Lurgan on January 22 this year at 8.43am.

Police arrived and the male wouldn’t identify himself.

“Police checked his person to see if there was anything on him to identify him and during that search he had a number of strips of pregabalin tablets,” said the prosecutor, adding there were 60 tablets in total.

The court heard Scullion admitted possession of the tablets, saying they were for personal use.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan pointed to the defendant’s record in relation to drugs.

Scullion’s barrister, Mr Aaron Thompson, said: “He has an older brother who had a horrific time and has a very bad criminal record. Sadly for Mr Scullion, the reality is, the die was cast a little bit from him – his older brother.

"He grew up in a house where he struggled with drugs. His brother was a terrible addict and Mr Scullion has had problems with addiction,” said the barrister, revealing his client’s previous convictions and adding Scullion was only released from custody in August 2025.

Mr Thompson said Scullion struggles badly with anxiety and depression and self-medicates.

“Since he was released from custody last year, he has struggled so much he hasn’t even registered with a GP,” he said.

"The sad reality is this isn’t an entirely shocking thing because of where he’s been at since his release from custody. But he does apologise to the court wholeheartedly,” said the barrister.

District Judge Ranaghan told Scullion the first thing he had to do was get registered with a GP and "then do your level best to try and get an appointment”.

Regarding the live suspended sentence, the district judge said it was for an entirely different set of offending. He sentenced Scullion to one month in custody suspended for 12 months.

"Get yourself levelled out. You don’t want to go down the same path as your brother,” he said.