Cocaine worth €3,080 in car was ‘a mistake of youth’
Stick image of plastic bag containing drugs
A FATHER who flew into Ireland through two connecting flights to face a drugs charge told a court the offence was “a mistake of youth”, as he was fined €3,500 at Carlow District Court.
Niall Maher (26) pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The court heard that on 13 December 2022 Garda Shaw observed a VW Golf parked in the gateway to a field at Myshall. A male was sitting in the driver’s seat and appeared to be asleep.
When asked what he was doing, the defendant replied that he had been in a friend’s home the previous night. He appeared disoriented and intoxicated, and the garda informed him that a search was being carried out.
Two ziplock bags of white powder, later determined to be cocaine, were found, along with a glass jar of white powder that turned out to be baking soda. A diary with prices written in it was also found, together with a ziplock bag containing empty ziplock bags. The cocaine, amounting to 44g, was estimated to have a street value of €3,080.
Mr Maher, whose last recorded Irish address was at Ferns, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, was arrested under section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. He had no previous convictions.
During the interview, he admitted possessing the cocaine but said it was for his own personal use and that he was not selling it at the time. He indicated that he had bought it in large quantities “because it was cheaper”.
Solicitor Joe Farrell told the court his client was entering a guilty plea to the section 15 charge regardless of what had been said initially in the garda interview.
“He has returned from abroad and hasn’t been in the country for a number of years. His mother is heartbroken he’s away, but he left due to connected issues. He is a father and has a partner overseas,” Mr Farrell said.
He said his client had asked him not to delay the case and to enter a guilty plea. Mr Maher had flown in the previous night through two connecting flights and was in a “completely different place at the moment”, the solicitor said, adding that he planned to fly home if the court was minded to deal with the matter through a non-custodial outcome.
Mr Farrell produced a letter from the defendant’s employer detailing that he had worked in welding in Ireland but had since upskilled.
“Mistakes of youth is how I would describe this,” he said, describing it as, “unfortunately a lesson for a lot of people”. His client had “a new life elsewhere” and had asked not to indicate where in the newspaper in order to protect him from other individuals that he had previously associated with.
Judge Geraldine Carthy notes that he had no previous convictions and that his “current life is not within this jurisdiction”. The challenge for the court, she said, was that it was a class A drug of substantial value.
She convicted Mr Maher on the section 15 charge and fined him €3,500, with 120 days to pay.
