A best man was allowed to perform his duties at his friend's wedding today after a judge decided not to jail him yesterday for possession of 25 ecstasy tablets.
Patrick Prunty (29), an electrician, Hollybank Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, was cleared of possessing the drugs for sale or supply but found guilty of simple possession after they were discovered in the glove compartment of his car in 2003.
He claimed they had been left in his car by another friend, not the man at whose wedding he is to be best man today.
Dublin District Court heard that his Northern-registered car was stopped when gardaí noticed it was a former PSNI car containing an internal communications panel of a type used by plainclothes detectives in the North. It was also in a part of the city often used by people trying to avoid the main roads.
Prunty was nervous when gardaí spoke to him and gave an address in Belfast which he shortly afterwards admitted was not where he lived and had only been given because this was where the vehicle was insured. Gardaí searched the car and found the drugs in a plastic bank bag in the glove compartment. He immediately admitted they were ecstasy tablets.
He made a statement saying a friend had told him he had left them in the car that night. He initially did not want to give the friend's name because he was "already in trouble with drugs". He later revealed the name of the friend, who was prosecuted separately in relation to the drugs.
Judge Patrick Clyne rejected defence arguments that there were no reasonable grounds to stop the car or that the chain of evidence in relation to bringing the drugs for analysis had been broken. He was, however, satisfied that gardaí had not adduced evidence that they were for sale or supply.
His counsel said he was engaged to be married himself and was due to be best man at the wedding of a friend who had accompanied him to court yesterday. He appealed to the judge not to send him to prison.
Judge Clyne said he had not considered a custodial sentence because there were no aggravating circumstances, but he still did not wish to underestimate the matter. He fined him €600.