‘Heroin is a terrible curse of Cork’

CORK Prison should introduce facilities to assist prisoners dealing with heroin addiction, Cork’s senior Circuit Court judge said yesterday, adding that heroin had become one of the terrible curses in the city.

Judge Patrick J Moran spoke during the sentencing of a man who tried to carry out a robbery in a desperate effort to pay for heroin.

Jonathan Hennessy, aged 28, said no facilities were available in Cork Prison to help prisoners with heroin addiction.

Judge Moran said: “It is unfortunate you cannot have treatment for your heroin addiction in Cork Prison. The authorities do not have the facilities, which is quite a pity for young men in this city. Heroin is one of the terrible curses of this city.”

Defence barrister Dermot Sheehan described Hennessy as a self-confessed heroin addict who committed crimes to feed his habit.

Judge Moran imposed an 18-month sentence on Hennessy for the attempted robbery of Sexton’s shop on the Old Blackrock Road, Cork, on May 31, a charge to which Hennessy pleaded guilty,

The sentence will be suspended on his release at the end of a two-year jail term he is serving for supplying heroin.