Former hair salon owner jailed over drugs

Christopher John Paul McIlory, 28, of Rosgoill Park in west Belfast, was told he will serve a further 10 months on supervised licence on his release from jail.

The defendant pleaded guilty to possession of class A cocaine with intent to supply, possession of cannabis resin and herbal cannabis along with the prescription tranquiliser drug Alprazolam.

Prosecution lawyer Stephen McCourt told Belfast Crown Court that on January 20, 2017, police stopped a car in Belfast and McIlroy got out of the car and ran away.

Police gave chase and McIlroy was subsequently detained a short distance away.

Mr McCourt said that police searched the car and recovered £1,010.11p in cash, almost 22 grammes of cocaine, three Alprazolam sedative tablets, and nearly 10 grammes of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin.

McIlroy was also found to have a dealer’s notebook containing names and amounts of money. A set of weighing scales was also recovered.

Mr McCourt described McIlroy as a “facilitator’’ who was obtaining drugs and supplying them to friends.

Defence barrister Luke Curran said McIlroy had once owned his owned hairdressing salon for a number of years.

But he said the business ran into difficulties when he became the victim of “racketeering and demands were made for money’’.

Mr Curran added that McIlroy was not commercially dealing for profit.

Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarlan said it was clear McIlroy was “purchasing the items or drugs and sharing them with your friends’’.