DRUG SALES FINANCED CANNABIS TO TREAT PAIN

A COMPUTER programmer who claimed he started supplying friends with cannabis
resin to raise cash to buy the drug to relieve serious back pain has been
given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

In Newry Crown Court yesterday Sean Fintan McAleenan (29) of Beechfield
Park, Rostrevor, pleaded guilty to possessing 127 grammes of the drug and
having them with intent to supply.

Police found the cannabis concealed in the kitchen at McAleenan's home when
a search was carried out in March.

Defence counsel John Kearney handed in to Judge David McFarland a medical
certificate indicating that McAleenan had sustained a serious back injury in
1991 resulting in ongoing problems.

McAleenan had started to self treat with cannabis for the pain.

The judge ordered that pounds 215 seized during the search should be donated
to the NI Children's Hospice Appeal.