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Man with 100 previous convictions caught with crack cocaine at Connolly Station spared jail

Patrice McNally (32) and William Moore (40), were both arrested when gardaí saw them sitting together

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A Belfast-based man and woman were caught with drugs for sale or supply after gardaí saw them acting suspiciously at a Dublin train station.

Patrice McNally (32) and William Moore (40), were both arrested when gardaí saw them sitting together at Connolly Station and searched them.

Mc Nally, of Monagh Parade, Belfast was fined €250 for possession of sedative tablets while Moore of Thomas Crescent was given a six-month suspended sentence for having crack cocaine.

They both pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court.

Judge Bryan Smyth was told gardaí were on patrol at the station at 8pm on September 7 when they saw both of the accused sitting, acting suspiciously.

When approached, they began to pack things away and gardaí believed they were trying to evade them.

In a search, Mc Nally was found with trays of Alprazolam tablets in her bag, worth €450.

Moore had €180 worth of crack cocaine in the chest zipper pocket of his tracksuit top.

Father-of-one Moore “owned up” to the offence when arrested, the court heard. Originally from Dublin, he had no previous convictions in the Republic but had 100 in the north, the court heard.

He had a serious crack addiction and was taking “quite a substantial amount” of it, his solicitor, Evan Moore, said.

McNally, a mother-of-two with no previous convictions, also admitted full ownership of the drugs she had.

She had turned to drugs following a bereavement.

“She knows what she did was wrong, she is apologetic and is trying to deal with her issues,” Mr Moore said.