A regional manager with a computer boss company went around London rave clubs collecting ecstasy and other drugs which he planned to give to his wife and friends to celebrate his 45th birthday party, a court heard.

Shamed Garath McGee, of Frilford, near Abingdon, told police he was a drug user but had decided to give them up after taking them for the last time for the landmark birthday, the magistrate Roger Davies was told.

McGee, of Oxford Road, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of two foil wraps containing 1.26 grammes and 738 mgs of amphetamines - more commonly known as speed.

He also admitted having ten tablets, six of which contained ecstasy, with intent to supply to "his wife and friends" on the same day, July 19, in Tinworth Street, Kennington. Prosecutor Reg Mayes told the magistrates' court that police patrolling the Kennington area became suspicious of McGee and a passenger in his Land Rover because it was parked outside a rave club notorious for drugs.

They thought the passenger was trying to hide something, but when they questioned the men, they denied having drugs.

A search revealed some drugs on the car's central console, and although both men denied they belonged to them, McGee later admitted they were his after all, saying that they were for his wife and friends, said Mr Mayes, and that he had been going around rave clubs to buy them. When McGee was later searched at the police station, more drugs were found hidden in his underpants - two foil wraps containing amphetamines, a white tablet and some liquid in a bottle. "He said he had used drugs for some time and that his 45th birthday was coming up and he decided to celebrate with the drugs," said Mr Mayes said: "He said it was going to be the last time he used drugs." Mr Mayes added that McGee told police that a drugs conviction could have fairly catastrophic consequences for his job. He was regional manager with a computer company.

In a plea for bail, after magistrate Mr Roger Davies intimated he would order a probe into McGee's life, Mr Christopher Walden, defending, said his wife and friend were at court for moral support, and that he was "the sort of man who can be trusted with bail".

McGee, a man of previous good character, was bailed until December 1 for pre-sentence reports.

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