Jail for woman who swapped methadone for crack cocaine
Carlow Court House Photo: Michael O'Rourke
A CARLOW resident who had pleaded guilty to possessing a knife and who has a long history of drug problems was last week sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment when she appeared before the local district court.
“If you have a knife, God knows what could happen – especially if you’re on crack cocaine or heroin,” said Judge Geraldine Carthy when she was sentencing Geeta O’Neill.
Ms O’Neill had pleaded guilty in a previous court sitting to unlawfully possessing a knife and to engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Huntington Court, Greenbank Road, Carlow on 10 September 2023.
Solicitor Joe Farrell said that Ms O’Neill was carrying a knife at the time because she’d been attacked the day before and was “fearful”. He also said that her life was “chaotic”, and while she used to have a “tenuous” relationship with the drugs services, she was not ready to re-engage with them.
Judge Carthy had adjourned sentencing in the earlier court sitting so the probation service could prepare a report on Ms O’Neill.
Last week, Judge Cathy said that it was “the poorest report I’ve read in a long time”.
She noted that the report said Ms O’Neill had attempted to cut down on her use of heroin and had gone on to methadone, but she thought that methadone was worse than heroin so she substituted it with crack cocaine. She also noted that the defendant had a high risk of reoffending and that she must be mindful of the serious nature of Ms O’Neill’s charges.
Judge Carthy then sentenced Ms O’Neill to eight months’ imprisonment. Recognisances were fixed.
