A Cork man who was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs when he was spotted by gardaí watching them search a vehicle proved “extremely evasive” when he was first searched, the district court has heard.

 Sergeant Tom Mulcahy told Skibbereen District Court that gardaí were searching a vehicle at Mardyke St, Skibbereen, Co Cork, at 10.10pm on. March 22, 2025, when they became aware of two other individuals observing them while trying to stay out of sight.

One of the men was Mark O’Driscoll, aged 37, with an address at Inse Álainn, Skibbereen. He was subsequently questioned and searched. 

The court was told he was wearing a large jacket with one of the pockets zipped up and was being “extremely evasive”. He was asked to empty his pockets and did so, except for one that was zipped up.

O’Driscoll told gardaí he hadn’t zipped up the pocket of the jacket and when it was searched, a clear plastic ziplock bag was found containing a white powder. 

O’Driscoll was arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine. The contents of the bag were sent for analysis and confirmed to be cocaine valued at €120.

The court heard that O’Driscoll admitted the jacket contained cocaine and the drugs were in his possession for his own personal use. 

Sgt Mulcahy said O’Driscoll had 50 previous convictions for a variety of offences including assault causing serious harm, assault causing harm, theft, traffic offences, and public order offences but he did not have any previous drug-related convictions.

 Colette McCarthy, defending, said O’Driscoll came from a “somewhat disadvantaged background” and had recently moved to Waterford but still visited family in Skibbereen. 

Ms McCarthy said O’Driscoll did not work and was on a long-term disability payment because he was illiterate.

Judge Joanne Carroll said that illiteracy was not a disability and that O’Driscoll seemed to have “plenty of time to be doing offences but cannot find time to do any work”. 

The court heard that at the time of the incident O’Driscoll had a five-month suspended prison sentence for driving without insurance. He was convicted of possession of cocaine and fined €100 with four months to pay the fine.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.

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