Failure to indicate led to drugs find

A Dublin man who led gardaí to a van containing over €370,000 of drugs when he failed to use the indicators on his car has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Gardaí tracked Barry Fowler, aged 30, down to the basement of his former apartment complex after he had sped off in his BMW to evade the patrol car.

An alarm fob on Fowler’s car keys pointed officers to a nearby transit van, which was packed with over €250,727 of cannabis, €103,404 of cocaine, and €8,827 of heroin. Gardaí found a further €5,672 of amphetamines and €1,522 of cannabis resin in the van, along with €2,000 of cannabis under the BMW’s bonnet.

Fowler, of The Crescent, Millbrook Lawns, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the drugs for sale or supply at Hunters Hall, Hunterswood, Ballycullen, on June 26, 2012.

He also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a sawn-off shotgun and 9mm bullets on the same date.

The father of one has previous convictions for road traffic offences, common assault and a three-year sentence for dangerous driving causing death from 2005.

Garda Peter Collins said Fowler took responsibility for the drugs tick lists found in his home and the van.

Judge Martin Nolan imposed a seven-and-a-half year sentence for the drugs possession and four years for the firearms offence to run concurrently.