Corkman who has tried to 'turn his life around' since offence may get community service

The judge described the offence as "a serious charge", but will wait for report on his suitability for doing community service work

Judge Kelleher imposed a four-month sentence on James Sheehan for discarding the suspected heroin into the River Lee as he fled but said that he could do a community service order of 150 hours instead of the prison sentence. File photo: Chris Young/PA

A young man carrying suspected heroin in his hand ran from gardaí and was seen discarding it into the River Lee as he fled.

Yesterday at Cork District Court, Judge Olann Kelleher remarked: “Obstruction is a serious charge. He disposed of heroin after being chased by gardaí.” James Sheehan of the halting site, Little Island, County Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of a drugs search.