Sentencing of a man convicted of resisting gardaí during a drugs search of his home in Co Offaly has been adjourned.
Keelan Hand failed in his appeal against the conviction at Tullamore Circuit Court today.
Judge Keenan Johnson adjourned sentencing in the case of Mr Hand, described as a former high level drug dealer in Offaly, after the judge heard the 29-year-old father-of-two had turned his life around.
Judge Johnson is awaiting a probation report on Hand's suitability for community service.
He had been found guilty at Tullamore District Court in November of resisting, obstructing or impeding gardaí on 16 January last year at his home in Moorepark Street, Birr.
The appeal hearing was told that a search warrant had been granted on the basis of information gardaí had relating to Mr Hand's involvement in the drugs business and his connection with one of the most significant drug gangs in west Dublin.
Inspector Kieran Hanley also told the court he sought the warrant because drugs were found in the home of the defendant's brother, Fabian Hand, and because a friend of Keelan Hand's had been viciously attacked in Kilcormac over a drug debt.
Inspector Hanley described Keelan Hand as a man who worked at a very high level in the drugs industry in Offaly and whose life had been threatened because of his activities.
Birr gardaí carried out an early morning raid at his home assisted by members of the Garda's Armed Support Unit.
A ramrod was used to break down the front door after there was no reply to a knock and the court was told Mr Hand attempted to reach for a hammer in his bedroom.
He was handcuffed and brought downstairs into a sitting room and garda witnesses said he tried to lunge at one of them with his head.
Inspector Hanley said no controlled drugs were found in the search, but said prescription drugs were found in a car outside.
Mr Hand said there was no hammer in the house and he denied lunging at gardaí.
He admitted he was upset and was giving out to them because there were no drugs in the house and he got a fright when armed gardaí with shields came up the stairs.
He said he had previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and that diagnosis had been changed to bipolar and psychosis following treatment in St Patrick's Institution, with an eight-fold increase in his medication.
He was now involved in Narcotics Anonymous and was assisting others in addiction treatment by chairing meetings and volunteering.
The court was told Hand had a number of previous convictions, the most serious being the possession of a firearm in 2009.
Judge Johnson ruled that the District Court conviction stood, but said he would adjourn sentence to 11 June for a report from the Probation Service on Hand's suitability for community service.
