Bad parking in Macroom lands Beara fisherman with cannabis charge

BY DAVID FORSYTHE

DRUGS worth €800 were discovered in the car of a Beara fisherman who came to garda attention because he had parked his car awkwardly at a service station, a recent sitting of Macroom District Court was told.

The court heard that on January 21st 2023 at around 1pm gardaí observed a black Audi car badly parked at the Inver petrol station at Gurteenroe, Macroom.

When they spoke to the owner of the vehicle, Andreas Babic (46) of Toormore, Castletownbere, there was a strong smell of cannabis from the inside of the car.

The car was then searched and cannabis worth approximately €800 was discovered in a bag in the footwell of the vehicle.

The court heard that Mr Babic had two previous convictions, one for motoring offences, and one for a public order offence. It also transpired that at the time his car was searched he was banned from driving, a fact which Mr Babic said he was not aware of.

Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said his client was married and has a 12-year-old daughter. He said that Mr Babic had attended counselling to address his drug issues.

Judge James McNulty said: ‘You have a daughter, she will be a teenager soon, what are you going to tell her? There must be an awful smell in the house.’

Judge McNulty requested that Mr Babic provide a saliva sample and adjourned the case for one month to allow him to provide proof that he had attended counselling as he claimed.