A Drogheda man who claimed he found 447 ecstasy tablets in a field told a court yesterday that his life had been threatened as a result. Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court heard that Anthony Finglas (28), of Church Street, was now in 23-hour lockup in Wheatfield Prison and feared for his safety.
Finglas pleaded guilty to having 447 ecstasy tablets and possession of the tablets with intent to supply at Constitution Hill, Drogheda, on February 15th, 1998.
The court heard that on the basis of confidential information, Garda Brian Morrissey, of Drogheda Drugs Unit, had stopped Finglas in his car at Constitution Hill. He had struggled with the garda and threw a plastic bag over a wall.
The garda let him go and retrieved the bag which was found to contain a coffee jar. Inside it were the tablets. A short time later Finglas gave himself up at Drogheda Garda station.
In his statement he said that two days earlier he had seen two men acting suspiciously in a field. Some 20 minutes later, he went into the field and found the jar. As a result of taking it, he said, his life had been threatened. His girlfriend, who lives in Drogheda, was also approached by two men who said they wanted £2,500 for the drugs.
Finglas said he became addicted to drugs while in Mountjoy Prison after taking morphine for a burn injury received there.
Judge Raymond Groarke said Finglas would have targeted young people for the sale of the ecstasy tablets and if he had come upon them as he claimed he would not have pleaded guilty to the possession for supply charge. He imposed a year's imprisonment for the possession charge and five years for supply. He would review the sentence in four years.
Finglas is now in custody serving a three-year term for assault which was imposed in March.