A move by the DPP to activate a suspended prison sentence given to a Limerick drug dealer failed yesterday.

The State is seeking to activate a suspended prison sentence handed down to a Limerick drug dealer who was at the centre of a political storm last year after he was the subject of representation by Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins.

A letter to Limerick Circuit Court by a politician on behalf of a drugs dealer did not influence a suspended sentence he was imposing, a judge has said.