Man drove friends to Carlow town to enforce drug debt
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A 22-YEAR-old who “got in way over his head” when he drove two friends to Carlow to enforce a drug debt received a three-year fully suspended sentence for burglary at Carlow Circuit Court recently. Brian Okolo (22) of 10 Sheehy Skellington Meadows, Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of stolen goods at a sitting of the court earlier this year.
On 11 October 2024, Mr Okolo drove two friends from Dublin to Carlow and arrived at a property in Carlow town looking for a man known to them who owed them money, Det O’Sullivan said in his evidence to the court. They encountered the victim, but not the man whom they were looking for.
The victim, a 21-year-old music student, let the group into the house and they smoked cannabis together. Soon after, the atmosphere became tense and the victim was forced into the rear seat of a vehicle. The group took a Pioneer DJ deck set from his home and placed it in the boot of Mr Okolo’s car.
The group drove around looking for the other man, but to no avail. After being struck a number of times with a tyre iron, the victim managed to flee the scene and sought assistance from a passer-by, who described the victim as “visibly distressed, injured and shaken”.
The tyre iron was subsequently used to identify Mr Okolo’s vehicle close to his home in Tallaght the same day. The vehicle was seized and searched and the DJ set was found still in the car. Mr Okolo was arrested on 15 October and interviewed at Carlow Garda Station, where he admitted possession of the DJ decks.
Mr Okolo named the other people involved in the commission of the offence, but they were not charged.
Det O’Sullivan told the court that the defendant “is a pleasant man to deal with” and that he had been “very foolish” in getting involved. “An event just escalated beyond what he thought it would be,” said Det O’Sullivan.
He admitted that no damage had been done to the decks and that they were returned to the injured party. “I’ve actually seen the victim use the decks and they’re in perfect condition,” noted Det O’Sullivan.
He noted that enforcement of drug debts is usually “more sinister”.
“In my experience, it could be that buildings are burnt to the ground,” Det O’Sullivan told the judge.
Mr Okolo’s parents have “worked incredibly hard” to raise their children and he is “ashamed to have brought trouble to their door,” defence barrister Tara Geoghegan BL argued. She said her client had made friends with the two other men after dropping out of university and that he had been “easily led”. He is now in full-time employment.
Noting “the very favourable evidence of Det O’Sullivan”, Judge Eugene O’Kelly sentenced Mr Okolo to three years in prison for the burglary offence and one year and six months for possession of stolen goods. He suspended both sentences in full and asked the defendant to raise a sum of €3,000 to be paid to the victim by mid-July.
