A Newry man who had over 101,000 ecstasy tablets in his lorry told a jury he believed he was transporting an illegal cargo but did not know it was drugs. "Any man caught with drugs should be fed with them," Mr Declan Donaghy said in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Asked by his defence counsel, Mr Brendan Grogan SC, about his state of mind when gardai found the drugs, he replied: "It was my personal opinion that I was in serious shit."
Mr Donaghy (27), of Newtowncloughe, Newry, Co Down, denies having the ecstasy, valued at £1.5 million, for sale or supply in Santry, Dublin, on April 29th, 1998. The prosecution alleges he imported the ecstasy in two holdall bags from England on behalf of a Dundalk drug dealer.
Mr Donaghy told Mr Grogan that after his lorry was stopped on Santry Avenue, a man approached him waving a gun and told him to "get the f... out". He believed it was a hold-up and did not accept that he had been stopped by gardai until he was brought to Santry station.
Mr Donaghy claimed that gardai said he would never see his children again unless he helped to capture a man who was due to collect the drugs outside a depot in Ballymun. One garda pointed at the holdall bags and said "there's life imprisonment for you", and another said he would not have to spend a day in prison if he helped them. Det Garda Peter McGuinness told him if he was going to claim in court that the lorry contained Barbie dolls the jury would find him guilty.
Earlier, Mr Donaghy's solicitor, Mr Michael White, accused gardai of being "distracting and annoying" while he was having a private consultation with his client and said he was not given sufficient time. He also suggested that gardai concocted statements which they then claimed were made by Mr Donaghy. These were "in gross contrast" to what his client had told him.
Cross-examined by Mr Padraig Dwyer, prosecuting, the witness said that during his consultation with Mr Donaghy in Santry station, Det Garda Patricia McGarrity had tried to spy through a window.
Mr White also said Mr Donaghy claimed he was innocent during their consultation, yet statements taken by gardai on the same day record him as admitting guilt.
The trial continues before Judge Frank O'Donnell and a jury.