Bundoran man avoids jail after €25,000 cannabis haul found in attic

A young Bundoran drug-dealer caught with almost €25,000 worth of cannabis in the attic has narrowly avoided being sent to prison.

Ethan Fergus was given a two-year jail term with the sentence fully suspended when he appeared at Donegal Circuit Court.

Judge John Aylmer told the now 21-year-old Fergus that the decision to give a suspended sentence was a “very difficult one” given the defendant’s attitude towards the Probation Service.

Fergus, of The Causeway, Crest of the Wave, Magheracar, Bundoran, was 17 when the large cache of illegal drugs was located at his home.

Fergus came forward to the Circuit Court on foot of a signed plea to three charges. He admitted to having cannabis for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to others, contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and contrary to Section 27 (3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, as substituted by Section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1984.

Fergus was also charged with two counts of possession of cannabis at the same location on the same date.

Sergeant Maurice Doyle told prosecuting barrister Ms Fiona Crawford BL that information came to Gardai following a Snapchat conversation between Fergus and another person.

A search warrant was applied for and executed on June 2, 2021. Fergus was not at the property when Gardai swooped as he was out surfing with his friends. 

Officers detected a strong smell of cannabis upon entering the house. A quantity of cannabis was found on the kitchen worktop. A door bearing a plaque with the name Ethan written on it was locked and Gardai were told that Fergus was the only person with a key.

A bedroom was searched and Gardai found rolling papers and a sheet of paper with weights listed. A drawer was opened and Gardai located a grinder and weighing scales. A black wallet containing €3,200 in cash and a Public Services card in Ethan Fergus’s name were also found.

In the attic, Gardai found two bags containing packages of cannabis. A vacuum pack machine was also found at the scene.

The total weight of cannabis located in the attic was 1.2kgs, with an estimated value of €24,700m while €765 worth of cannabis was found in different locations in the bedroom.

Fergus was arrested by Gardai and detained, but nothing of evidential value was gleaned from the interview. 

Put into the witness box by his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, Fergus said he was using cannabis since the age of 16 and began dealing at 17. After his detection for these offences, he said he went to Dublin and worked for two-and-a-half years to pay off a €20,000 debt.

While Fergus has no previous convictions, the court heard that he was found in possession of a small quantity of cannabis in September of this year. Asked why he had four different bags in his possession on that occasion, Fergus said: “They were different flavours”.

Fergus told the court that he smokes cannabis every day, but has stopped dealing. “I am addicted,” he said. Fergus said he has tried personally to quit, but has not sought medical help or counselling. He told Judge Aylmer that he wanted to get his life “back on track”.

Fergus told Judge Aylmer that he believes he needs one-to-one assistance rather than group setting and this was why he declined a suggestion from the Probation Service.

“It didn’t seem as if it would help me,” Fergus said. Under questioning from the judge, Fergus said he would now agree to abide by any terms of going under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Fergus’s father told the court that he had suffered two recent accidents, suffering serious injuries as a result, and his son helps him every day.

A reference was also handed into the court from the Holyrood Hotel in Bundoran.

Mr Smyth, with Mr Ciaran O’Rourke BL and instructed by solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian, said that Fergus was “used and abused” by people who used him to sell drugs and he had to work hard to pay off a debt. 

“He seems to have continued down the road of using and abusing cannabis,” Mr Smyth said. “It has dawned on him now to get his life on track and that there is no future in this. He is dealing with dangerous people.”

Mr Smyth said that the activity being engaged in displayed a “knowledge beyond his years” and said that Fergus was “purloined by people who could use him as a dealer on the street”.

He asked Judge Aylmer to afford his client an opportunity.

In sentencing Fergus, Judge Aylmer told the accused that he was “very fortunate” not to have been before the court on a more serious charge - one of the possession of drugs with a value of €13,000 of more.

“Fortunately for you, the DPP elected for a less serious charge, but still a very serious one,” Judge Aylmer told the accused. 

Judge Aylmer said that Fergus engaged in dealing to feed his habit and to “make easy money”. He said an unfortunate aspect was that Fergus was “carrying on the business flagrantly under the eyes” of his parents.

He said it was apparent that Fergus is oblivious to the harm caused by drugs such as cannabis. Due to the “professional nature of the business” Fergus was operating and the  paraphernalia recovered, Judge Aylmer set a headline sentence of five years in prison.

Fergus would get substantial credit for a signed plea, but he “clearly has very little insight and has not really displayed any remorse,” the Judge said. 

“It is clear from observing you, that you are mature in professional drug dealing, but very immature in all other respects,” Judge Aylmer said, telling Fergus that he needs to “wake up to what you need to do in relation to the use of cannabis and cannabis dealing.”

He said Fergus is someone who is in “grave need of rehabilitation”.

Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to one of two years, telling Fergus: “And that is doing the absolute best that I can”.

Given the attitude of Fergus to the Probation Service, Judge Aylmer said it was a “very difficult decision”, but said he would suspend the two-year sentence. The sentence was suspended on Fergus entering a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years.

He was also ordered to abstain completely from cannabis and unprescribed drugs for two years and to go under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period of 18 months. He was warned to comply with all directions and if he is found in breach the two-year prison sentence will be triggered.