Cork man who had cocaine in his pocket ‘extremely evasive’ when questioned by gardaí

A Cork man who was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs after gardaí saw him watching them search a vehicle proved “extremely evasive” when he was first questioned, the district court has heard.

Sergeant Tom Mulcahy told Skibbereen District Court that gardaí were searching a vehicle at Mardyke St, Skibbereen, Co Cork, at 10.10pm on March 22, 2025, when they became aware of two people observing them.

One of the men was Mark O’Driscoll, aged 37, with an address at Inse Álainn, Skibbereen. He was subsequently questioned and searched.

The court was told he was wearing a large jacket with one of the pockets zipped up and was being “extremely evasive”. He was asked to empty his pockets and did so, except for the one that was zipped up.

O’Driscoll told gardaí he hadn’t zipped up the pocket of the jacket. When the pocket was searched, a clear plastic ziplock bag, containing a white powder, was found. O’Driscoll was arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine.

The contents of the bag were sent for analysis and confirmed to be cocaine, valued at €120.

The court heard that O’Driscoll admitted the jacket contained cocaine and that the drugs were in his possession for his own personal use.

Sgt Mulcahy said O’Driscoll had 50 previous convictions for a variety of offences, including assault causing serious harm, assault causing harm, theft, traffic offences, and public-order offences, but he did not have any previous drug-related convictions.

Colette McCarthy, defending, said O’Driscoll came from a “somewhat disadvantaged background” and had recently moved to Waterford, but still visited family in Skibbereen.

Ms McCarthy said O’Driscoll did not work and was on a long-term disability payment, because he was illiterate.

Judge Joanne Carroll said illiteracy was not a disability and that O’Driscoll seemed to have “plenty of time to be doing offences, but cannot find time to do any work”.

The court heard that at the time of the incident, O’Driscoll had a five-month suspended prison sentence for driving without insurance. He was convicted of possession of cocaine and fined €100, with four months to pay the fine.

• This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme