A man caught with €2,400 of drugs at his home in 2020 is not recognisable as the same man today, his solicitor has told a local court.
Aaron Maguire appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with the sale and supply of drugs.
The court was told that Gardai obtained a warrant under Section 26 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to search the home of Maguire at An Clarin, Killygordon on December 7th, 2020.
The carried out the search at 7.40pm and during the raid discovered €2,400 worth of cannabis.
They arrested Aaron Maguire, then aged 27, who was fully cooperative and admitted the drugs were his.
Judge Eiteain Cunningham asked if the accused had any previous convictions of a similar nature and was told he had not.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Rory O’Brien, said that at the time his client was using drugs and had bought the drugs to pay off a debt and to share with like-minded peers.
He said his client had pleaded at the earliest opportunity.
He added that Maguire had turned his life around and was now the father of a young child and had a partner who was in court with him.
Mr O’Brien said Maguire was almost four years working in the construction industry and was fully committed to doing the best for his family and was utterly ashamed and embarrassed by what he had done.
He pleaded with Judge Cunningham to consider taking a certain course in the matter saying there would be no repeat offence of this nature.
However, Judge Cunningham said she could not take a certain course given the nature and amount of drugs involved.
She fined Maguire €600 and allowed him five months to pay.