Man swallowed pills as police burst into caravan, court is told

Man swallowed pills as police burst into caravan, court is told

22 February 2017

A MAN stuffed diazepam tablets into his mouth as police burst through the door of a caravan in Newcastle, a court has been told.

Twenty four year-old Patrick O’Rawe ended up in intensive care after the incident which occurred in the local resort on April 29 last year.

At Downpatrick Court this week O’Rawe was jailed for five months after admitting a string of offences including assaulting two police officers, resisting police, possession of drugs and breaking into a caravan.

The court was told the incident began just before 3pm when police received a report of a car being driven erratically at the Castlewellan Road.

Police located the car parked between two caravans at Sunnyholme Caravan Park just a short distance away.

Police entered one of the caravans and found O’Rawe and the two co-defendants, 25-year-old Caoimhe Mary Francis Goodwin and a 16-year-old male, inside. O’Rawe was stuffing tablets into his mouth and Goodwin’s mouth as the police arrived. 

He then bit a policeman on the hand. O’Rawe resisted police and ended up being taken to hospital.

O’Rawe’s solicitor said his client had “a horrific record” and that his past offences were caused by 

his “strong reliance on alcohol, drugs or both.”

The solicitor said O’Rawe had gone to the caravan in Newcastle with the two co-defendants for “recreational purposes,” but added his client had been in “a spiral of drug-taking and risk-taking behaviour”. 

He said O’Rawe was taken to hospital and was in intensive care for a few days after this incident. 

District Judge Mr Greg McCourt told O’Rawe, of Albert Street, 

Belfast, his behaviour had been “appalling”.

Caoimhe Mary Francis Goodwin, of College Square North, Belfast, also appeared in court on Monday. 

She was convicted of assaulting a male police officer, resisting police, possession of diazepam, breaking into the caravan, driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen of blood for alcohol analysis.

Her case was adjourned to enable the Probation Service to prepare a pre-sentence report. 

Sentencing is due to take place at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court on 23 March.

The 16 year-old youth, who cannot be named due to his age, was convicted of possession of diazepam and breaking into the caravan.

Sentencing in his case was adjourned until a sitting of the local Youth Court next month.