'Mind-altering drugs not the answer' judge tells County Derry man

A 22-year-old man has been told that 'mind-altering drugs' are not the most appropriate way of dealing with his mental health and self-harm issues.

Sam Mitchell, of Ronan Court, Magherafelt, appeared before Magherafelt Magistrates Court last week and entered guilty pleas to two charges of possessing Class A drugs.

The court heard how a mobile police patrol had stopped a vehicle on Smith Street on October 29 2021 and identified the defendant as the driver.

After observing both the defendant and the passenger were 'extremely nervous', police searched the vehicle, locating a quantity of drugs in the front central console.

The seizure amounted to four tablets of ecstasy to a weight of 4g and two 'deal bags' of MDMA totalling 2g. Mitchell admitted the drugs were his.

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A judge issued fines of £500 to the defendant for the offences.

Defence for Mitchell said he had struggled with his mental health and had self-harmed. They added he had found lockdown difficult and used drugs as an 'escape route'.

They said the defendant had been holding down a steady job as a maintenance man, and that he had bought the drugs in anticipation of 'blow-out' parties over the Halloween weekend.

Judge Mullan said mind-altering drugs were not the answer to his difficulties with mental health and self-harm and that he should be attending with a doctor or counsellor.

She fined Mitchell a total of £400 for the offences, alongside an offender's levy of £15, and issued a destruction order for the drugs.

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