Man with over €12,000 of drugs in Moville threw stash out bathroom window

A man has been charged with being in possession of over €12,000 worth of drugs in Donegal has appeared in court.

Letterkenny Circuit Court heard that Gavin McGuinness threw a bag containing the drugs out a bathroom window of his Moville apartment when detectives swooped on the property.

A 37-year-old, McGuinness spoke only to plead guilty to the charges when he appeared before Judge John Aylmer.

He pleaded guilty to being in possession of a controlled drug, namely cocaine, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to another.

He also tendered a guilty plea to a charge of being in possession of a controlled drug, namely ecstasy, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to another.

McGuinness pleaded guilty to obstructing a member of An Garda Síochána in that he threw a bag containing illegal drugs out of a bathroom window of the apartment. 

At a previous sitting last February, McGuinness pleaded guilty to unlawfully having in his possession a controlled drug, cannabis, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to others. 

Detective Garda Jason Conroy told Ms Fiona Crawford BL, barrister for the state, that gardai executed a warrant at an apartment at Bath Terrace, Moville, on January 25, 2021.

McGuinness was in the doorway of the premises when officers arrived.

During the raid, gardai located €800 in cash, in €50 notes, in a bedroom. 

Afterwards, gardai were alerted that a bag was found containing drugs on the roof of an adjacent apartment.

The items were sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis and they were confirmed to be cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.

Ecstasy valued at €9,790, Cocaine worth €638.47 and €1,962 of cannabis were found.

Gardai also found cannabis joints, a small bag of cannabis herb and a grinder on a coffee table in the living room area.

McGuinness’s phone was seized by gardai and text messages and contact between the accused and others were found. Detective Garda Conroy said they were of the nature of asking for “stuff” and “deals” and items related to drug dealing.

When interviewed, McGuinness told detectives that he “gets bits for friends, but I’m not selling loads, like”. McGuinness denied that he was dealing drugs, but admitted that he was the owner of a bag of cannabis found on the coffee table.

The court heard that McGuinness has previous convictions, including four for the possession of illegal drugs, two for no insurance, one for drink-driving and one for failing to produce insurance. 

Detective Garda Conroy agreed with Mr Colm Smyth SC, barrister for McGuinness, that another individual was “caught down the country” and this led to a search warrant being executed at the apartment in Moville.

Mr Smyths said his client was taking drugs for some time. “He had a dependence on drink and drugs and would have been ripe for the picking,” Mr Smyth said.

McGuinness took to the witness box and said he was instructed by another party that “if the guards came to throw the bag out the window”.

He outlined that he missed an appointment with the Probation Service as he moved to Carlow so was not receiving mail and he had not had contact by telephone or email.

McGuinness said he is a full-time concrete finisher and since starting counselling “my life changed from that day onwards”.

The accused’s father, Harold McGuinness, said he became aware that his son had a problem and heard second-hand information about the raid on the apartment.

He told the court that his son has engaged with White Oaks and also with a counsellor in Derry.

He Daid his son hasn’t gone back to the apartment since and is now working outside of Donegal. This would have been a regular arrangement, but he was around more often at that time due to Covid-19.

Mr McGuinness said he has seen an improvement and he is happy that his son isn’t taking drugs anymore. 

Asking for the preparation of a full probation report, Judge Aylmer adjourned the matter until May for sentencing.