Overwhelming number of defendants before court on All Together Now music festival drug charges

People from all over the country travelled to Carrick-on-Suir last Thursday to pay over €500 in the District Court for having drugs in their possession at the All Together Now music festival.

A total of 24 defendants appeared before Justice Terence Finn for having cannabis, cocaine and MDMA in their possession at the festival held in nearby Portlaw in 2018 and 2019.

The All Together Now festival attendees provided a windfall for the court poor pox as they handed over €12,200 in return for having the convictions struck out.

All the proceeds from the poor box are distributed to local causes.

The court was overwhelmed with the number of defendants before the court on drug possession charges from the festival.

NO RECEIPTS
The court registrar ran out of receipts to give to the defendants as they handed over the funds. Each defendant was invited to pay €500 to the poor box.

In one case a defendant was asked to make a donation of €1,000 as he had two substances in his possession at the festival.

One of the defendants, a man with an acquired brain injury, was asked to pay €200 to the poor box.

Of the 24 defendants there was one female defendant.

ATM MACHINE
As it became clear what was required from each defendant if they were to avoid having a criminal record a path was worn to a nearby ATM machine to withdraw the €500 funds that were needed.

In all 24 cases Sgt Carol O’Leary told the court that the defendants were co-operative and all had no previous convictions.
Judge Finn, before inviting each defendant to pay funds to the poor box, asked them what they did for a living.

In the majority of cases the defendants were graduates, most of which were in good jobs and others were doing a Masters and in one case a defendant had just completed a Masters and had received a first class honours and was now doing a PHD.

The defendants held jobs in the financial services, actuarial services, in insurance, worked as engineers, there was one primary school teacher, civil servants and a tattoo artist.

SOLITICORS’ EXAMS
One of the defendants informed Judge Finn that he was doing his final solicitors’ exams.

Some of the defendants were represented by solicitors who made the case to Judge Finn that their clients were anxious not to have a conviction recorded against them as they intended to travel.

Judge Finn told each defendant to learn a lesson from the experience and informed them that the decision not to impose a conviction was a one off in each case

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
“I must be in the Christmas spirit,” he told one of the defendants who was before him for having two substances in his possession.

The defendant, a 28-year-old mathematics graduate who is now studying to be an actuary, was asked to pay a total of €1,000 donation to the poor box.

Judge Finn asked the defendant was he familiar with the TV programme Hill Street Blues.

The defendant, who said he was not aware of the programme, was asked by Judge Finn to heed the advice given in the programme by a police chief to his colleagues going out on the New York beat with the reminder - “Be careful out there”.

“I am giving the same advice to you,” Judge Finn told the defendant.

Two of the defendants were not in court.

One was in Australia and Judge Finn was handed a letter on his behalf from his mother.
The court was told that the other defendant not in court was working in Holland and could not travel to Carrick because of the pandemic.

In both cases Judge Finn adjourned the matter to early next year to allow the defendants time to arrange for the €500 to be paid to the court poor box.