Taxi driver jailed on drugs charges
A taxi driver who stashed cannabis worth €2.75m in a ditch behind his home has been jailed for six years by Judge Kevin Haugh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Donal Creamer, a top official at the well-known north Dublin GAA club Fingallians, was offered €1,000 by a man he picked up in his taxi to hold on to a bag containing the drugs.
He accepted because of severe financial pressure he was under and was arrested after gardai seized the drugs on foot of confidential information.
Creamer (aged 42), a married father-of-three, from Lower Commons, Garristown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of drugs with a market value of €13,000 or more for sale or supply on July 11, 2002.
Judge Haugh said he was entitled to consider the mandatory 10 years minimum sentence but he was satisfied the mitigating factors he heard allowed him to come down from that.
"He pleaded guilty at the earliest possible stage and although he gave the gardai very limited cooperation, it's because of the sparse information that was available to him at the time," he said.
"He was in a very vulnerable position and succumbed to temptation but it would have earned him a paltry sum considering the risk that was involved", Judge Haugh added..
Detective Garda Eric Canny told Mr Paul Greene BL, prosecuting, that Creamer was living in a prefab in a field at the time when gardai received a warrant to search his home. Creamer pointed out two places under a ditch out the back where the drugs were hidden.
Det Garda Canny said in total there was 215 kilos with an estimated street value of €2.75m. He had been in custody since the date of his arrest.
Mr Tom Kelleher, the local primary school principal and Fingal County Councillor, told Mr Niall Durnin SC, for Creamer, he had known him for about eight or nine years. He said he gave up all his spare time to Fingallians GAA club and trained young people three to four nights a week. He also took them away on weekend trips in his taxi.
Mr Kelleher said he was aware Creamer's financial position was in disarray and advised him to spend that free time to repair the situation but the advice was not heeded.
He added that Creamer had applied for planning permission to build a number of kennels on the land and set himself up as a dog trainer but his application was refused.
Creamer was in danger of being thrown off the land but Mr Kelleher added that he offered his services to him in preparing a proper application for planning permission.
Mr Durnin said Creamer cooperated with the gardai as much as he was in a position to. Det Garda Canny accepted the reason he didn't name names was because he didn't know any.
