A MAN who was in possession of an envelope with his name and address on it containing cannabis denied that the drugs belonged to him.
BY DAVID FORSYTHE
Insp Anthony Harrington told Macroom District Court that Maciej Wozniak, 39, of Ullanes East, Ballymakeera, was charged with four offences relating to two different incidents that occurred in 2024.
Garda Keith O’Leary said that he called to Mr Wozniak’s address on January 20th, 2024 to investigate a separate incident.
When he spoke to the occupants he noticed a strong smell of cannabis and obtained a search warrant to search the property.
Garda O’Leary returned at 5pm to search the property and when he entered the building another individual threw something into the fire which was retrieved and was cannabis.
Mr Wozniak was searched and found to be in possession of an envelope with his name and address on it.
Folded inside the envelope was an amount of a green substance later confirmed to be cannabis valued at €10.
Mr Wozniak denied that the cannabis belonged to him and told the court that his housemate had been ‘smoking and drinking all day’ and he had told him to stop.
He also alleged that Garda O’Leary had not shown him the warrant on entering the house. He told the court that he didn’t know how the envelope got into his pocket.
Garda Fintan Coffey told the court that he was called to an incident at the Mart Grounds, Sleveen East, Macroom at 10.50pm on August 18th 2024 where there had been a complaint made about noisy behaviour.
He said that when he arrived Mr Wozniak was sitting with two other men.
The garda said that Mr Wozniak refused to allow the garda to search him.
Garda Coffey said that Mr Wozniak continued to be abusive and aggressive. Mr Wozniak was arrested and taken to Macroom Garda Station where he was searched but no illegal drugs were found.
Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said that his client claimed he was not drunk.
He said that Mr Wozniak did not run away and had nothing to hide as he was not in possession of illegal drugs.
He said that it was his client’s contention that there was a group of people causing noise in the area who left before he gardaí arrived. He added that Mr Wozniak claimed he asked to be tested for alcohol at the garda station to prove he was not intoxicated.
Giving evidence, Mr Wozniak accused Garda Coffey of lying about the incident.
He alleged that the garda was aggressive towards him and that he was injured when he was put in handcuffs, causing his wrists to bleed. Insp Harrington asked Mr Wozniak why he had not reported the alleged injuries, taken any photos or sought medical treatment
The court heard that Mr Wozniak had 26 previous convictions for offences including for public order and possession of drugs.
The court heard that he was also currently on a six-month suspended sentence.
Mr Purcell said that his client had struggled with alcohol and addiction issues for a number of years but had ‘engaged sporadically’ with the Probation Service and ‘was not in a good place mentally’.
Judge John King said that Mr Wozniak seemed to have a ’certain memory deficit’ and he did not find his evidence reliable.
He convicted him on all four charges – possession, threatening and abusive behaviour, impeding a peace officer and intoxication in a public place.
He remanded Mr Wozniak in custody to appear at Bandon District Court on another date. to enable the preparation of probation and psychiatric reports.
