Life of defendant considered ‘under threat’ in Monaghan

A man whose solicitor said he wanted to get back to his home as his life was “under threat” while in the Monaghan area was put off the road for a year for drug driving, but escaped with a fine for being in possession of articles deemed by the prosecution to have been intended for use in a burglary offence.

Lee Hickey (29) of Lisclougher, Delvin, County Westmeath, had been charged with possessing articles including a crowbar, pliers, spanner, screwdriver, gloves and cap to use in committing burglary, with driving while drugs were in his system, and with having no insurance on the car, all at Killycard, Castleblayney, County Monaghan on March 23 last.

Roisin Courtney, solicitor, said her client was in court, but had been informed by gardaí that “his life is under threat in this locality”, and had therefore been reluctant to travel up from his home area.

He was pleading guilty to the drug driving but the defence felt the evidence regarding possession of articles allegation was “weak”, she added.

Sergeant Jim McGovern said a car was stopped by gardaí while pulling out of an estate in Castleblayney at 10.40am on the Sunday in question, after they received a report about a burglary in progress.

While speaking to the driver, Hickey, they noted a strong smell of cannabis from the vehicle. A roadside test returned positive for cannabis, cocaine and opioids, and he was arrested. A blood sample taken at Monaghan Garda Station confirmed the presence of those substances.

The vehicle was seized as Hickey wasn’t insured, Sgt McGovern said, and articles believed to have been used in an attempted burglary were found in the vehicle.

Judge Ciaran Liddy was told that Hickey had 11 previous convictions, going back to 2016, for offences including trespassing on a building and the sale and supply of drugs.

Ms Courtney said her client’s position was that the incident gardaí were called to was not, in fact, an attempted burglary, as a statement from the complainant had referred to people banging on the door and ringing the doorbell for five minutes.

She said the defendant had been honest with gardaí, in that he had stated that he was “there to buy drugs”.

While Hickey admitted having a serious drug addiction, he is now on a detox programme with his GP. The solicitor said there was a threat on his life and he wanted to get back down the road to Delvin.

Regarding the possession of articles charge, Ms Courtney said her client was entering a plea as he wanted to finalise the matter. But he was maintaining that the items referred to were tools he used for work, which included groundwork.

For the drug driving offence, Judge Liddy imposed the mandatory one-year disqualification, together with a €100 fine to be paid in three months. A fine of €150, was handed down for the possession of articles. The no insurance charge was marked proven and taken into consideration.

At the court on September 22 last, a young woman who was one of the people in the car with Hickey was given a three-month prison sentence in relation to the tools found in the vehicle.

Abbie Glynn of Lisclougher, Delvin, County Westmeath, who is now 19 years old, had pleaded guilty to being in possession of the same list of items, with the intention of using them in a burglary while at Killycard on March 23 last.