Wheelchair user jailed again for dealing cannabis

A wheelchair user who was sentenced to four years in January for distributing cannabis across Limerick and Kerry has been jailed again for dealing cannabis.

Jason O’Sullivan, aged 33, with an address at Sycamore Crescent, Newcastle West, yesterday got a three-month sentence to run concurrent to the previous sentence imposed in January.

Newcastle West District Court was told gardaí searched his home on Jul 13, 2012, and found two bags of cannabis.

His solicitor, Padraig O’Connell, appealed to Judge Mary Larkin for leniency. He said O’Sullivan was already trying to cope with “a life sentence” of “being wheelchair-bound for life” following an accident.

The court was also told the defendant has difficulty with basic tasks including washing himself and preparing food.

Garda Jason Mitchell agreed in court that though O’Sullivan had pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply, it was accepted by gardaí that the drugs were to be “shared out” between O’Sullivan and acquaintances.

The offence in question carries a maximum sentence if life in prison.

In taking into account an early guilty plea, and noting O’Sullivan’s “own personal problems”, Judge Larkin imposed a three-month jail term to run concurrent to his previous drugs sentence.

The court ordered the cannabis be destroyed following an application by gardaí.

In January, O’Sullivan was jailed at Limerick Circuit Court for four years with the final two years suspended.

Both he and his partner, Dawn McCarthy, aged 33, with an address at Ballyhahill, Co Limerick, plea-ded guilty to possession of almost €12,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply on Dec 6, 2010.

She also received a four-year sentence, but it was suspended in full because the judge said their son would be “an orphan” if both parents were jailed.

Drugs were found in a vehicle driven by Ms McCarthy when they were stopped on the Dingle to Tralee road, and further drugs were found in the house they shared in Ballyhahill, where they had lived with their now 14 year-old son.

Judge Carroll Moran said the appropriate sentence was four years but agreed to suspend the final half of the sentence because of O’Sullivan’s disability.