A 23-year-old trainee electrician has been jailed for dealing in drugs after police found a mobile phone containing text messages about buying and selling “pills” and “coke”.

Nial Newman from Galliagh Park, Enniskillen, described himself as a former addict and admitted unlawfully having cannabis.

He also admitted having methylendioxymethlamphetamin tablets but denied having them with intent to supply them to someone else.

However, he was convicted of having the Class A drug with intent to supply and was jailed for three months.

He was released on £500 bail pending the outcome of an appeal.

The case hinged on a silver Nokia mobile phone he was allegedly seen dropping as he got out of a car and ran away.

A police officer told the court that at 2am on June 2, last year, he was on duty at a vehicle check point on the Sligo Road in Enniskillen when they stopped a black Vauxhall Corsa. Newman was sitting in the front passenger seat. He appeared nervous and hesitant and would not make eye contact with him. The officer said he opened the car door and asked Newman to get out as he was going to search him under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Newman dropped a mobile phone he was holding on to the front passenger seat in a manner that led the officer to believe “it was an attempt to conceal it from myself”.

As soon as Newman got out of the vehicle “he took off running”.

The officer said he gave chase as Newman headed towards Old Rossorry Road, turning into a marina, where he slipped and fell on grass. He was apprehended and when searched was found to have three bags of cannabis and eight pink pills in his jacket pockets. He also had a Blackberry mobile phone and a wallet containing £455.

He was interviewed and admitted having the cannabis but denied having the tablets. In a subsequent interview he admitted the tablets were his and said he had bought them on the internet, believing them to be “legal highs”. They were analysed and found to contain a “variety of intoxicants”.

Cross-examined by defence barrister Gavin Cairns, the officer confirmed that an analysis of the Blackberry phone established that it belonged to Newman.

The court heard that text messages on the silver Nokia phone were indicative of drug dealing but there was nothing linking it to Newman, who denied all knowledge of it. There were references on it to “Nige” or “Nigel” but not to Newman.

The officer said it had not been fingerprinted nor were any checks made to see who had been paying for the pay-as-you-go service on the phone.

Mr. Cairns pointed out that when police suggested to Newman that he had tried to hide the Nokia from them, he told them that if that was the case surely he would have taken it with him when he ran off and tried to conceal it somewhere.

The court was told that at 1.54am, 15 minutes before police stopped Newman, a text was sent to the Nokia from someone in Lisgoole Park in Enniskillen asking: “Have you got pills Nigel? If you do would you do me 10?” The would-be buyer indicated that he could pay for the pills when he got his dole.

Another text read: “Where are you now lad? I’ll meet you at the bottom of the park if you like?” Newman told the court he had a Blackberry mobile phone and did not own a Nokia.

He said he had bought the pills on the internet.

“I bought them under the impression they were legal highs,” he stated.

He told the court that on the night in question he had been at a friend’s house on the Sligo Road and was getting a lift home. He denied being at Lisgoole Park.

“I knew I had them (pills) on me so I was kind of nervous,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what to do. When the constable asked me to get out of the car I took off running.” He claimed he had never seen the Nokia phone until the police showed it to him.

“I told them I had never seen it before,” he stated.

He also gave evidence that he had never been called “Nige” or “Nigel”.

Cross-examined about the £445 in his wallet, he said he had worked for his father and been paid £300, and was intending to go to the Rory Gallagher festival in Ballyshannon the following day.

He admitted that he had previously telephoned people about drugs.

“I was an addict there for a few months,” he stated.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said credibility was obviously a factor in the case and he did not find Newman to be an impressive witness.

“I simply don’t accept his evidence that the first time he saw this phone was when he was shown it by the police,” said the District Judge.

“I’m satisfied he had this phone and did discard the phone in the car to try and distance himself from it. The phone linked him into the supply of drugs,” he added.

The District Judge said he was satisfied that Newman had the phone in his possession and was using it to buy and sell drugs.

He convicted him of having the tablets with intent to supply them to another person.

Mr. Cairns said this was not a case involving a large amount of tablets and suggested it was “small scale supply within friends and associates”.

He submitted that Newman was not an “incorrigible rogue” and “there is some prospect of him turning the corner”.

The District Judge told Newman possession of any drugs is a serious matter but possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply is of particular concern to the courts.

He said there was “clear evidence of drug dealing on the phone” and he was satisfied nothing less than a custodial sentence was appropriate.