Latest news with #PatrickBuckley
Irish Examiner
25-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
'You would have been better off flushing it down the toilet', judge tells Cork man caught with €15k of bad-quality cannabis
A Mallow man who held on to a €15,000 batch of bad-quality cannabis from a friend would have been better off flushing it down the toilet rather than putting himself at risk, a sentencing judge told the 45-year-old. Detective Garda William Hosford testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that on February 10, 2023, gardaí went to the home of Patrick Buckley, at 16 Sandfield Terrace, Mallow, Co Cork, with a warrant to conduct a drugs search. The accused was present and was asked if there were drugs on the premises. He brought gardaí to a cupboard in his bedroom and inside there was a gear bag with different containers of cannabis herb. 'He also handed over his phone and there was no evidence found on his phone in relation to drugs or drug-dealing. 'The value of the drugs was €15,000. He said he was not involved in selling or supplying drugs. 'A [friend] wanted to get rid of it and gave it to him. He smoked it, trying it a few times. It was not great and he tried to give it back. 'He smoked it himself even though it was bad. He thought he would not have to buy it.' Brian Leahy, defence barrister, said the defendant denied ever selling or supplying the cannabis to another person. While he pleaded guilty to a sale or supply charge, the State's position is that this is the charge which is brought when someone is caught with a quantity of drugs greater than could be immediately consumed by one person. Det Garda Hosford said from his experience investigating drugs cases, the herbal material was brown rather than the normal green colour. 'It did look like — for want of a better term — bad-quality cannabis,' the detective said. Mr Leahy said of his client: 'He got involved in something quite stupid. He provides for his family. He has been a model citizen, apart from this. He did not have an addiction but he had a drug use issue at the time.' Judge Helen Boyle noted the absence of aggravating factors and gave Patrick Buckley a three-year suspended sentence. However, she did say this to the 45-year-old: 'You would have been better off flushing it down the toilet or otherwise getting rid of it.'
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Wildcats coach Gardiner MacDougall reflects on family tragedy at Memorial Cup
Moncton Wildcats head coach Gardiner MacDougall speaks to media following a Memorial Cup hockey game in Rimouski, Que., on Monday, May 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov RIMOUSKI — Taylor MacDougall was expecting to see his team hit the ice at the Memorial Cup on Monday when he received a devastating phone call. Instead of watching his Moncton Wildcats take on the Medicine Hat Tigers, the hockey club's general manager met with the RCMP to identify his father-in-law, who had died suddenly of a heart attack. Gardiner MacDougall, Taylor's father and Moncton's head coach, reflected on the tragedy on Wednesday. 'You never want that phone call,' he said. 'My son, as a general manager, this is the highlight of his career. This should be the most joy he's ever had. He gets a call that will change his life 20 minutes before (that game). 'You don't have a manual or manuscript for that type of thing. He's handled it amazingly.' Patrick Buckley had arrived in Rimouski from Fredericton that afternoon and checked into his hotel with Taylor MacDougall's help. His son-in-law was the last family member to see him. Buckley drove to a nearby golf course for a round ahead of Moncton's game and was later found in his car. 'That day (Buckley) was in Fredericton. So Taylor's daughter, Lily, is four years old. He drove her to daycare that day. He kissed her goodbye, and she loved her granddad,' Gardiner MacDougall said. 'That's the last time she'll ever kiss her granddad, so it puts things in perspective. 'And then he drove, and he probably wasn't feeling 100 per cent, but he was so excited to come watch us. He came to all our playoff games.' The veteran coach held back tears when he announced the news of Buckley's death during a news conference after Monday's 3-1 loss to Medicine Hat, calling it the most difficult game he'd ever coached. Taylor flew home to Fredericton after the game to be with his wife's family. Gardiner, meanwhile, began preparing for Wednesday's must-win matchup against the Rimouski Océanic. It was Moncton's most important game of the season. But hockey, in many ways, took a back seat. 'Whatever happens tonight, we're going to live tomorrow,' Gardiner MacDougall told a group of reporters at Colisée Financière Sun Life. He also recalled a life-changing moment of his own from 1997. At the time, Gardiner MacDougall was coaching the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He was behind the bench for a game in Portage la Prairie, Man., when he learned his sister's husband — a military member stationed in Petawawa, Ont. — had been in a serious accident. MacDougall flew to Ottawa the following day to support his sister. After her husband spent six days in intensive care, the family made the difficult decision to pull the plug on his life support. 'That changed my life,' he said. 'Hey, I'm as competitive as any guy, but I had a sister. She had a five-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, and she lost her husband in 1997 just like that.' 'We'd like to hang around Rimouski. That's our goal,' MacDougall added. 'But I think that's given me an amazing perspective. It certainly changed me as a human, it really changed me as a hockey coach in 1997, that seven days in intensive care in Ottawa with my family around me and that type of thing. 'It was another bitter call that Taylor got to have changed his life.' Moncton and Rimouski — both winless through two games at the junior hockey showcase — played the final round-robin game Wednesday with a spot in the semifinal on the line. Moncton captain Markus Vidicek didn't know Buckley, but said the Wildcats felt the loss deeply. 'When it happens to one person in our team, it happens to everyone,' he said. 'So for us, it was a lot.' FOE, as in 'family over everything,' is a phrase you'll hear a lot around the MacDougalls. Taylor's message to Wildcats players back in August, when both he and his father joined the franchise, was that 'great teams are tight teams.' 'He said, 'We have to be the tightest team ever,'' Gardiner MacDougall recalled. 'When we took the job over, when you talk to other coaches, maybe the Wildcats weren't as tight as you want to be, and certainly this year they've proven (they are).' 'Patrick was just the greatest family guy,' he later added. 'We can't control some parts of life, so we just got to make the best of it today, and there's a hockey game to be played tonight.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025. By Daniel Rainbird
Globe and Mail
28-05-2025
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Wildcats coach Gardiner MacDougall reflects on family tragedy at Memorial Cup
Taylor MacDougall was expecting to see his team hit the ice at the Memorial Cup on Monday when he received a devastating phone call. Instead of watching his Moncton Wildcats take on the Medicine Hat Tigers, the hockey club's general manager met with the RCMP to identify his father-in-law, who had died suddenly of a heart attack. Gardiner MacDougall, Taylor's father and Moncton's head coach, reflected on the tragedy on Wednesday. 'You never want that phone call,' he said. 'My son, as a general manager, this is the highlight of his career. This should be the most joy he's ever had. He gets a call that will change his life 20 minutes before [that game]. 'You don't have a manual or manuscript for that type of thing. He's handled it amazingly.' Patrick Buckley had arrived in Rimouski from Fredericton that afternoon and checked into his hotel with Taylor MacDougall's help. His son-in-law was the last family member to see him. Buckley drove to a nearby golf course for a round ahead of Moncton's game and was later found in his car. 'That day [Buckley] was in Fredericton. So Taylor's daughter, Lily, is four years old. He drove her to daycare that day. He kissed her goodbye, and she loved her granddad,' Gardiner MacDougall said. 'That's the last time she'll ever kiss her granddad, so it puts things in perspective. 'And then he drove, and he probably wasn't feeling 100 per cent, but he was so excited to come watch us. He came to all our playoff games.' The veteran coach held back tears when he announced the news of Buckley's death during a news conference after Monday's 3-1 loss to Medicine Hat, calling it the most difficult game he'd ever coached. Taylor flew home to Fredericton after the game to be with his wife's family. Gardiner, meanwhile, began preparing for Wednesday's must-win matchup against the Rimouski Océanic. It was Moncton's most important game of the season. But hockey, in many ways, took a back seat. 'Whatever happens tonight, we're going to live tomorrow,' Gardiner MacDougall told a group of reporters at Colisée Financière Sun Life. He also recalled a life-changing moment of his own from 1997. At the time, Gardiner MacDougall was coaching the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He was behind the bench for a game in Portage la Prairie, Man., when he learned his sister's husband – a military member stationed in Petawawa, Ont. – had been in a serious accident. MacDougall flew to Ottawa the following day to support his sister. After her husband spent six days in intensive care, the family made the difficult decision to pull the plug on his life support. 'That changed my life,' he said. 'Hey, I'm as competitive as any guy, but I had a sister. She had a five-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, and she lost her husband in 1997 just like that.' 'We'd like to hang around Rimouski. That's our goal,' MacDougall added. 'But I think that's given me an amazing perspective. It certainly changed me as a human, it really changed me as a hockey coach in 1997, that seven days in intensive care in Ottawa with my family around me and that type of thing. 'It was another bitter call that Taylor got to have changed his life.' Moncton and Rimouski – both winless through two games at the junior hockey showcase – played the final round-robin game Wednesday with a spot in the semi-final on the line. Moncton captain Markus Vidicek didn't know Buckley, but said the Wildcats felt the loss deeply. 'When it happens to one person in our team, it happens to everyone,' he said. 'So for us, it was a lot.' FOE, as in 'family over everything,' is a phrase you'll hear a lot around the MacDougalls. Taylor's message to Wildcats players back in August, when both he and his father joined the franchise, was that 'great teams are tight teams.' 'He said, 'We have to be the tightest team ever,'' Gardiner MacDougall recalled. 'When we took the job over, when you talk to other coaches, maybe the Wildcats weren't as tight as you want to be, and certainly this year they've proven [they are].' 'Patrick was just the greatest family guy,' he later added. 'We can't control some parts of life, so we just got to make the best of it today, and there's a hockey game to be played tonight.'
National Post
28-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
Moncton Wildcats coach Gardiner MacDougall reflects on family tragedy at Memorial Cup
Taylor MacDougall was expecting to see his team hit the ice at the Memorial Cup on Monday when he received a devastating phone call. Article content Instead of watching his Moncton Wildcats take on the Medicine Hat Tigers, the hockey club's general manager met with the RCMP to identify his father-in-law, who had died suddenly of a heart attack. Article content Gardiner MacDougall, Taylor's father and Moncton's head coach, reflected on the tragedy on Wednesday. Article content 'You never want that phone call,' he said. 'My son, as a general manager, this is the highlight of his career. This should be the most joy he's ever had. He gets a call that will change his life 20 minutes before (that game). Article content 'You don't have a manual or manuscript for that type of thing. He's handled it amazingly.' Article content Patrick Buckley had arrived in Rimouski from Fredericton that afternoon and checked into his hotel with Taylor MacDougall's help. His son-in-law was the last family member to see him. Article content Buckley drove to a nearby golf course for a round ahead of Moncton's game and was later found in his car. Article content 'That day (Buckley) was in Fredericton. So Taylor's daughter, Lily, is four years old. He drove her to daycare that day. He kissed her goodbye, and she loved her granddad,' Gardiner MacDougall said. 'That's the last time she'll ever kiss her granddad, so it puts things in perspective. Article content 'And then he drove, and he probably wasn't feeling 100 per cent, but he was so excited to come watch us. He came to all our playoff games.' Article content The veteran coach held back tears when he announced the news of Buckley's death during a news conference after Monday's 3-1 loss to Medicine Hat, calling it the most difficult game he'd ever coached. Article content Taylor flew home to Fredericton after the game to be with his wife's family. Gardiner, meanwhile, began preparing for Wednesday's must-win matchup against the Rimouski Oceanic. Article content It was Moncton's most important game of the season. But hockey, in many ways, took a back seat. Article content He also recalled a life-changing moment of his own from 1997. Article content At the time, Gardiner MacDougall was coaching the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He was behind the bench for a game in Portage la Prairie, Man., when he learned his sister's husband — a military member stationed in Petawawa, Ont. _ had been in a serious accident.
