District Judge Nigel Broderick said the case showed the dangers of drug taking. The judge was speaking at Ballymena Magistrates Court where Cory McKergin (30), of Waveney Road in Ballymena, was sentenced for a number of offences. On December 27 last year the defendant assaulted a woman and 'trashed' her home in Kells causing £2,600 damage to windows, furniture and a TV.
Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. In February, March and April this year the defendant, who had a previous record, stole over £1,000 worth of alcohol from Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco. A defence barrister said the defendant was in breach of a suspended sentence.
The lawyer told the court that in April this year, McKergin suffered a cardiac arrest - his "down time was 20 minutes due to a drug overdose". The defendant was in intensive care and got out of hospital on May 17 this year and there had then been an incident when he "fell down stairs". The lawyer said the defendant has "body shakes" and "seizures" and also has "short term memory loss, difficulty with his speech, difficulty with his swallowing".
The barrister said the defendant hopes to get onto a "brain injury group". Advertisement Advertisement Judge Broderick asked: "Has he given any thought in the medium to long term future as to whether he could engage with any drug rehabilitation charity and give some kind of talk to young people about the dangers of taking drugs because this is a classic example of what happens to you if you take drugs?" The defence lawyer said he did not believe that would be feasible because the defendant's "speech is a major problem". The judge said he had read a psychologist's report and told the defendant: "The only reason I am not going to send you to prison is because of the life-changing effect there has been on you as a result of your drug overdose in April.
"In some respects you are fortunate you didn't die from your overdose but you have been left with life-changing injuries and it is quite clear that the overdose and its consequences have had a significant long lasting effect on your future life." The defendant was given a nine months prison sentence, suspended for three years. A one-year Restraining Order was also put in place.
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