Injected himself with heroin in car

And he had a ‘large knife’ with him to protect himself on his errand to obtain the drug.

Conor Collins, whose address was given as Somerset Avenue, Bangor, appeared in court by way of videolink from Maghaberry prison.

For being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink of drugs he was fined £100 and banned from driving for 12 months.

He was fined £100 and banned for 12 months for not having insurance and fined £75 for not having a licence.

Fines of £100 were imposed for taking a vehicle without the consent of the owner and possession of an article with a point or a blade.

The court heard that on March 31 last year at 10.10pm police saw a car in a car park at Meadow Lane in Portadown.

As they approached it they saw the defendant in the driver’s seat in a deep sleep. The keys were in the ignition and the engine was running.

When Collins got out of the car he was very unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. A large knife was found in the vehicle.

A blood sample was taken and analysis showed it contained morphine, codeine and diazepam.

The case had been adjourned from a previous court so that a pre-sentence report could be obtained.

A barrister representing the defendant said the entirety of his record related to substance abuse and mostly heroin.

He explained that Collins had driven to meet a heroin dealer and had injected the drug. That was why he was found asleep in the car.