Man charged with trying to bring a large quantity of drugs into Derry on the 212 bus from Belfast

A man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly transporting drugs from Derry to Belfast on the 212 bus, a court was told today.

Police were contacted by a passenger on the bus who said they had seen a man taking drugs during the journey to Derry.

When the bus arrived at Foyle Street station at 8.10pm on Saturday, Martin Ferguson was searched by police as he got off the bus.

Officers found 300 Diazepam tablets and a quantity of white powder on his possession.

The 29-year-old was in no state to be interviewed due to the consumption of drugs and had to be taken to Altnagelvin Hospital.

He remained in the hospital until yesterday when he was arrested and taken to Strand Road police station.

During police interviews, he made no comment about the drugs.

Ferguson, who is from Belfast, appeared before Derry Magistrates Court today where he was charged with possession of Class A and Class C drugs and possession of Class C drugs with intent to supply.

A bail application was made on his behalf.

However, a police officer told the court that they objected to Ferguson being released on bail because of the likelihood of him reoffending.

The officer said that Ferguson was arrested nine days ago in 'exactly' the same circumstances when he was allegedly caught bringing drugs to Derry from Belfast on the bus.

The officer said the defendant had 12 previous convictions, and three ongoing cases before the court which involved drug offences.

The officer said Ferguson had recently been living with his girlfriend at an address at St Brecan's Park in the Waterside area of Derry.

The police officer said that there had recently been a death at the address due to the 'misuse of prescription drugs'.

The officers said that 'most of the deaths in the city come from prescription drugs' and added that, if released on bail, Ferguson would continue to bring drugs from Belfast to Derry.

Defence solicitor, Ciaran Toland, said his client had an 'exceptionally low' IQ of 60 and was an 'extremely vulnerable' person.

Mr Toland said efforts were being made to secure a 'supervision order' to help deal him with his issues.

The solicitor said that if remanded in custody, Ferguson was someone who could be 'taken advantage of very easily'.

Mr Toland said his client had been living at the Sr Brecan's Park address for several months with his girlfriend.

While he recognised that it was 'not ideal', Mr Toland said it was the only bail address available to Ferguson as his parents refused to accept him at their home in Belfast.

Judge Barney McElholm said he did not wish to remand Ferguson in custody given his difficulties.

However, he said that if he released him to the address at St Brecan's Park, he would 'keeping doing what he's doing' because there would not be adequate support for him.

Judge McElholm said he understood the pressures on the health and social care sector, but raised concerns about the lack of support for people such as Ferguson who were dealing with addiction.

“One could adopt a cynical attitude of 'it's their own fault they choose to take drugs' but one cannot simply hide behind that because there are knock-on effects for the rest of the community because of the activities of addicts.

“And to protect ourselves we need to be addressing this but nobody seems to be addressing it.”

Judge McElholm said it was not just about the harm that Ferguson 'might do to himself'.

“He is going to Belfast, and this is the second time he has been caught, and returning with a substantial amount of prescription medication.

“As the police officer rightly points out the recent deaths we have had, and we have had quite a few in this city from drug use, are not the hard drugs that one would normally look, like heroin etc, etc, it is prescription medication illegally obtained and people overdosing on them.”

Judge McElholm said he was prepared to release Ferguson on bail to live at his parents's address in Belfast.

He added that if his mother refused to accept him, then he would remain in custody.

As part of his proposed bail conditions, Ferguson is banned from entering Derry and must not taken drugs.

The defendant is due to appear before Derry Magistrates Court again on July 1.