Nigerian teenager pleads guilty to dealing crack
A Nigerian teenage asylum seeker has been remanded in custody pending a pre-sentence probation report after pleading guilty to trafficking in €3,000 worth of crack cocaine.
The 17-year-old had fled Nigeria after his mother died and his father was murdered over his religion. After he came to Ireland last September he started abusing crack cocaine and started to work for a drug dealer to pay for his addiction.
The Dublin Children’s Court heard that the boy had been arrested on October 6 for possession of crack cocaine on Amien Street with intent to supply, which he admitted yesterday.
He was first remanded in custody to St Patrick’s Institution on October 6 after the court heard he was linked to a major Nigerian drugs gang which planned to take him out of the country if he got bail.
Garda Brendan Casey of Store St garda station told Judge Angela Ni Chonduin today that when arrested the teenager was found in possession of €500 worth of crack cocaine.
When he was detained for questioning at Store St he produced six packs of crack cocaine, which he had hidden in his back passage. The total street value of the drugs was €3,000, the court heard.
During his interview at the garda station the teenager admitted his role in the sale of cocaine in the north inner city, Garda Casey said.
In mitigation, defence counsel Mr Niall Nolan said the boy had come to Ireland in September last year.
Shortly before leaving his homeland his mother had died from a heart attack.
His father, who was a Christian, was murdered "as part of a religious blood lust," Mr Nolan told Judge Ni Chonduin.
After his father’s killing, a priest helped the teenager to get out of Nigeria to get to Ireland, the court heard.
When he arrived in the country he applied for asylum and has been in the care of the East Coast Area Health Board. He was enrolled in a secondary school but had to leave when it was discovered that he had literacy difficulties.
Mr Nolan also said the teenager’s motive was not profit. His role in the drug dealing offence stemmed from his crack cocaine addiction, which caused him to spiral out of control.
Pleading for bail and sentence to be adjourned, Mr Nolan appealed to the court to allow the boy the opportunity to prove that he has quit drugs by providing regularly screened urine samples.
Plans are now afoot to have the teenager placed on an educational course, he also said.
The boy has been on remand in custody since his arrest and as a foreign national had found that experience terrifying.
A health board project worker who has been helping the boy since his arrival in Ireland said she had always found him to be of good behaviour.
She told the court that if released on bail, the teenager would be provided with accommodation and support to help him quit drugs.
The boy said his role in the offence stemmed from his drug use and did not profit from the offence. He said he was given his personal supply of crack cocaine in return for making deliveries of the drug.
Judge Ni Chonduin refused to grant bail and ordered an urgent pre-sentence probation report saying that she was considering detaining the teenager due to the seriousness of the charge.
Case was adjourned until November.
