A man who handed an altered prescription into a city pharmacy, with the intent of obtaining tablets used to treat anxiety, was sentenced to five months imprisonment at Galway District Court.
Cathal Folan (27), with an address at Fairgreen Hostel, pleaded guilty to being in possession of the document, with the intent to deceive staff at Briarhill Pharmacy on January 26 last.
Sgt Finbarr Philpott said that the defendant handed in the prescription, which was a genuine one from a GP which had been made out to a different person.
It had been altered to include Xanex tablets and diazepam, commonly used to treat anxiety.
The attempt was unsuccessful, and Gardaí were contacted. Folan was subsequently charged with being in possession of the prescription, but not for altering it in any way.
His solicitor, Olivia Traynor, said that it showed the desperate situation he was in.
She told the court that her client had a long history of drug addiction, and was under the influence at the time.
“He went voluntarily to the Garda Station, where he was shown CCTV footage,” she said.
“He didn’t recollect it, but accepted that it was him. The Xanex was to help with his detox.”
She added that her client had never caused difficulty when sober, and was currently serving an eight-month sentence for theft.
Judge Mary Fahy told the solicitor that Folan had been extensively helped by the court, and that the attempt to deceive was “significant” in this case.
She took into account the guilty plea, before imposing a five-month sentence.
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