A man caught pushing ecstasy in a Dublin nightclub was fined €1,000 yesterday.
Paul Murray (24), of Grangemore Lawn, Donaghmede, Dublin, denied having 16 ecstasy tablets for the purpose of supply at Switch nightclub, Temple Bar, on March 29th last year.
He claimed they were for his own use over the weekend, and that he had also given some to a friend.
Dublin District Court heard security staff at the club had observed him taking money from patrons and handing something to them from his back pocket.
In an interview later with gardaí, he claimed he and his friend had got 50 tablets from someone outside the Central Bank plaza that night, and they had gone to the Bankers pub before going to Switch. He was to pay €150 the following week for the tablets.
In evidence yesterday, he claimed he had only made these admissions to gardaí to get out of the station as he was "out of my head" on drugs.
Judge Gerard Haughton said he was satisfied as to the reliability of the admissions Murray made in the Garda interview, and that Murray's evidence was contradictory.
He had previous convictions for theft and car crime but none for drugs, Judge Haughton said. He therefore dealt with it by a fine of €1,000.