Man forced into drug trade by pal jailed for six years
A man who was forced into acting as a drug courier by his former "best friend" has been jailed for six years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of heroin valued at €120,000.
Wayne Young said he found himself owing thousands to the man who had consoled him following a personal difficulty by getting him addicted to cocaine and then "dropped the bombshell" that he was heavily in debt to him.
Young, aged 27, of Killala Road, Cabra pleaded guilty to having the heroin for sale or supply on January 8, 2003.
He told gardaí he thought it was cocaine he was carrying but was afraid to name the person who forced him to carry the drugs.
He told his counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, he borrowed from his bank and the credit union to try to pay the criminal and was forced also to resign from the job he held down for 10 years.
"But the more I paid him, the more I seemed to owe. I don’t think he wanted to be paid-off but just wanted to use me," Young said.
He said he took to hiding from the criminal who had threatened to shoot him. This man began throwing out names of people whom he said would "be down to see me."
He took to parking his car in another street to pretend he wasn’t at home. "Home wasn’t home anymore," he said.
He admitted he acted as a drug courier five times and had no choice but to do this and had been promised that if he did the "run" on which he was caught, they would leave him alone for a month.
Garda Stephen Conroy told prosecuting counsel, Ms Martina Baxter BL, that Young was caught on Dingle Road, near his home, as a result of a surveillance operation.
Judge Desmond Hogan noted the maximum sentence for Young’s crime was life imprisonment and there was a 10 years minimum term but the legislation allowed the court discretion if there were exceptional and specific factors.
Judge Hogan said he was satisfied that Young was at the lower end of the web but he was still an important part of the web, though he had perhaps participated under duress.
He had now weaned himself off cocaine and had no previous convictions. He suspended the final two years of the six year sentence on Young entering into a bond.
