Ran into lamppost while he was trying to evade the police

When police found drugs on a 20-year-old man in Portadown he tried to evade them but fell to the ground after running into a lamppost.

David Clarke, whose address was given as Cathedral Road, Armagh, appeared in Craigavon Magistrates Court last Friday by way of videolink from Hydebank.

Waiving his right to a pre-sentence report he admitted resisting police on June 23 last year and possession of a class C drug, Diazepam.

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He was sentenced to two months in custody for each offence with the terms to run concurrently.

He was also ordered to pay a £25 offender’s levy.

The court heard that at around 3.25pm police saw two males fighting in Mourneview Street, Portadown.

Clarke was uneasy and evasive and when police searched him they found a small bag containing tablets.

The defendant tried to get away but ran into a lamppost and fell to the ground.

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On the way to custody he said that the tablets were ‘blues’.

A solicitor representing Clarke said he had no previous convictions for drugs offences and completely panicked on this occasion.

He explained that his client was staying with a friend in Portadown and the tablets belonged to this person.

Imposing the custodial sentences District Judge, Mr Mervyn Bates, said he would make no order concerning suspended sentences and a conditional discharge already hanging over the defendant as they were for different types of offences.