A man accused of transporting ecstasy worth £1.5 million claimed he was handed a written statement by gardai and then told them "F..k it, I'll sign it" without reading it.
His comment was not recorded by gardai, he said in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in his continued cross-examination on the 14th day of his trial. He alleged he later discovered that gardai had altered the wording of his statement to make it look like he knew about the drugs.
Mr Declan Donaghy (27), of Parkview, Newtowncloughe, Newry, Co Down, denies having the ecstasy for sale or supply at Santry Avenue, Dublin, on April 29th, 1998. Mr Padraig Dwyer, prosecuting, alleges that Mr Donaghy agreed to transport the ecstasy from England on behalf of a Dundalk-based drug dealer.
Cross-examined by Mr Dwyer, he said that after he was taken to Santry Garda station, detectives tried to get him "to set up" another man. He refused to do that.
Mr Donaghy agreed he had arranged to meet the man at a haulage depot in Ballymun to hand over two hold-all bags but denied knowing that they contained 101,000 ecstasy tablets. He added: "I can look back now but at the time I didn't believe they contained anything except cigarettes."
The accused denied that he "got greedy" and gave in to offers of money from drug dealers. He also denied that he was offered a second-hand car in exchange for transporting the drugs. Mr Dwyer said he was not suggesting that the accused was anything other than a courier, to which Donaghy replied: "I wouldn't even class myself as a courier."
The trial has gone into closing submissions before Judge Frank O'Donnell and the jury.