Three men found with €3m of drugs get 21 years in total
Three men caught with drugs worth nearly €3m have been sentenced to a combined total of 21 years in prison by Judge Yvonne Murphy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Patrick Rolston (aged 26) of The Courtyard, Midleton, Cork, was jailed for 10 years for having ecstasy worth €1.7mi and cocaine worth €35,000 at his home and for six years, to run concurrent, for having cocaine valued at €200,000 at the M50 toll booth plaza on June 15, 2004.
Barry Jones (aged 33), of Agar Grove, London NW1, with an address in Alicante, Spain, and Albert O’Reilly (aged 35), originally from Clondalkin, Dublin, also with an Alicante address, both pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine valued at €800,000 for sale or supply at Bewley's Hotel, Clondalkin on the same date.
Judge Murphy jailed O’Reilly for six years and told him it would have been an eight-year sentence but for his medical condition. She directed he receive psychological and medical support.
She imposed a five-year term on Jones who, she said, had played the least significant role in the operation and would be jailed away from his home country.
Judge Murphy said Ireland has a significant drug problem which led to serious problems in society.
She said drug couriers cannot expect to receive anything but severe treatment.
Detective Garda Darragh O’Toole told Ms Mary Gearty BL, prosecuting, that during investigations into drug transactions in Dublin gardaí received information leading them to suspects staying at Bewley’s Hotel on Naas Road, Clondalkin.
O’Reilly and Jones had arrived in Dublin Airport from Spain on June 14 and checked into two rooms in the hotel. The following morning gardaí observed O’Reilly emerge from the hotel and approach Rolston in a parked car.
O’Reilly gave Rolston a rucksack which, following his apprehension on the M50, turned out to contain 2.5kg of cocaine, worth €200,000.
On foot of this discovery gardaí obtained a search warrant for Rolston’s home and found a further half-kilo of cocaine worth €35,000 and 170,000 ecstasy tablets worth €1.7m concealed in a car parked outside his house.
Det Gda O’Toole said Rolston immediately accepted responsibility for the drugs found in Cork and in the car he was driving through Dublin.
Gardaí also entered Bewley’s Hotel and found O’Reilly and Jones making their way from their rooms. Jones was carrying a suitcase which contained 5kg of cocaine, and O’Reilly had 1kg tucked into the waistband of his trousers.
A further 5.5kg was discovered in their hotel rooms, bringing the total value of cocaine seized from the two men to €800,000.
Det Gda O’Toole said gardaí seized a total of €2.735m of controlled drugs from the three men on the day.
O’Reilly and Jones had no previous convictions and were both approached in Spanish bars and offered cash to bring drugs into Ireland some weeks before their arrests.
Rolston has one previous drug conviction and an addiction to ecstasy. Ms Gearty said the Criminal Assets Bureau had no interest them as they had not profited from the drugs trade.
Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, defending O’Reilly, told Judge Murphy that his client was from an "impeccable background" and had led a stable life until suffering a brain aneurysm in 2000 which resulted in a part of his brain being removed.
O’Reilly’s father said his son had been a "great lad" before his illness and continues to have the full support of his family. He had been a "workaholic" before selling up and moving to Spain having, "changed completely".
Mr Brendan Grehan SC said Jones had been of similar good character until his wife committed suicide in 1999. This had a devastating impact on Jones, who also ended up in Spain.
Mr Grehan said he was "down on his luck and preyed upon" by traffickers seeking a courier.
Mr Felix McEnroy SC, defending Rolston, told Judge Murphy his client was taking up to 25 ecstasy tablets a day at the time of his offence and had incurred a substantial debt.
