Jail for Derry man who smuggled drugs into hospital

Derry Magistrate's Court heard today how a man who was a patient in hospital was seen being handed a package that was later found to be drugs.

Patrick Michael Emmet O'Hara (30) of Cecilia's Walk in Derry admitted possessing the drugs on February 2 last year.

The court heard that police were called to the hospital after a report that drugs had been found on a patient, the defendant. 

They were told that O'Hara had received a visit from someone claiming to be his brother.

The brother was seen to be acting suspiciously and staff kept an eye  on him. 

A package was seen to be passed and when O'Hara was challenged he tried to flush the package down the toilet.

The package was recovered and found to be 15 pregablin tablets. 

Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that his client 'clearly has a drug problem'.

He said that O'Hara had spent some time in custody.

O'Hara was sentenced to two months in prison.