Corkman sentenced to 10 years for having heroin

A Corkman caught with €32,000 worth of heroin who claimed he had only gone to Limerick to get papers for his pet chihuahua was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin suspended the last 18 months of the 10 years he imposed on Daniel Wyse, aged 32, from 35 Glenfields Park, Ballyvolane, Cork.

David Rickard, defending, said yesterday that Wyse had been in abject fear since he was imprisoned in November. He said that, twice during his consultation with Wyse, the accused referred to the word “hit”.

Mr Rickard said that while he did not clarify this issue with his client, he took it from many years of criminal cases that Wyse was not referring to a smack in the ribs.

The barrister said that Wyse had been in lockdown at Cork Prison for his own safety and had spent most of his time since November in the Midlands Prison.

Mr Rickard also said Wyse was under duress at the time he was caught by gardaí.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said he found that hard to believe and concluded that Wyse was fully and deliberately participating in the activity when gardaí caught him.

The judge said that in the face of the overwhelming evidence against him, Wyse decided not to put himself at the mercy of the court but to go before a jury.

The jury found Wyse guilty of having heroin for sale or supply at Halfway, Crossroads, Rathduff, Co Cork, on February 15, when its street value exceeded €13,000.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said Wyse had excluded himself from full mitigation in light of his conviction following a plea of not guilty.

Wyse claimed he knew nothing about the heroin and only travelled to Limerick to get identity papers for his dog.

Wyse chose not to give direct evidence but the jury was told of what he told gardaí when questioned.

Interviewed after his arrest at the scene by Garda Jamie O’Riordan, Wyse said he knew nothing about heroin, only what he read in the Evening Echo, and he thought heroin was a dirty drug which should not be on the streets and that he had only gone to Limerick to get papers for his dog.

Detective Garda John Sheedy said he and his colleagues were on a surveillance operation in the Mallow area at around 11.20pm that night when he saw a Suzuki Grand Vitara jeep with two men on board.

“I had information on that vehicle. We followed the jeep and it turned left to Rathduff on the Cork-Mallow Road. We followed it down the cul de sac. I could see it making the turn. I could see it turn around. We activated the blue lights and siren,” said Det Garda Sheedy.

“I could see the Grand Vitara jeep accelerate and drive towards us. We moved to the right to block it. We were doing about 10 miles per hour. The Grand Vitara accelerated and drove up on the embankment on our righthand side.

“The Vitara went up on the embankment and attempted to pass us. It came to a sudden stop. There was a bang. On the left side, there was a large rock. It then slid down and collided with the front of the patrol car.”

Det Gda Sheedy said both passengers said in response to gardaí that there were no drugs in the car.

The detective said a package was found at the front passenger footwell. He brought this to their attention and they made no comment about it.