DROGHEDA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO HAVING 447 ECSTASY TABLETS

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 &163;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.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson