Crack-cocaine dealers see jail sentences increased

The Court of Criminal Appeal has ruled that the sentences handed down to two Clondalkin drug dealers were too lenient.

Community volunteers Andrew Goonery of Collinstown Grove and Darren Boylan of St Marks Grove were caught with €45,000 worth of crack cocaine in Palmerstown in 2009.

They were then jailed for three and a half years, but the DPP challenged the sentences today, arguing they did not go far enough.

The three-judge panel has agreed and has increased the sentences of the by one and a half years each.

Goonery and Boylan, both in their 20s, admitted possessing the drugs for sale and supply at a flat in Palmerstown in November 2009.

During a raid of the apartment, gardaí found almost €3,000 stuffed down Goonery’s boxer shorts.

As they forced their way into the building, he was seen throwing items off the balcony which turned out to be a quantity of crack cocaine, two mobiles and digital weighing scales.

Darren Boylan was seen in the kitchen trying to flush more crack cocaine down the sink.

Both men volunteer in the community, Goonery as a soccer coach, Boylan in a programme target young people at risk of getting involved in drug use.