Ex-IAA director jailed for cocaine possession

A former director of the Irish Aviation Authority and member of Shannon Town Commissioners has been jailed for two-and-a-half years by Judge Elizabeth Dunne for having cocaine valued €50,000.

Thomas O'Shaughnessy, aged 40, who campaigned against drugs in Shannon, became

addicted to cocaine while working in Holland and carried the drugs to Dublin because of debts he owed a sinister dealer who threatened to harm his family.

O'Shaughnessy, of Finnian Park, a former Labour Party election candidate, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the unlawful possession of 477 grams of cocaine, then worth an estimated £40,000 (punt), on October 2, 2001.

Judge Dunne said the legislature took a very serious view of such offences and rightly so but she was satisfied that exceptional and specific circumstances existed in the case for her not to impose the prescribed minimum sentence of 10 years.

"Peoples' lives have been made miserable and hell because of the abuse of drugs in this country. You could even look at this defendant and see his life has been made hell," she said.

Judge Dunne noted he had no previous convictions, had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and said it was fair to say the offence was only committed as a result of his cocaine addiction.

"Overall I must take the view of the serious nature of such offences as the Oireachtas has. His very definite position in society has now been destroyed," she concluded.

Detective Garda Paul Doran of the National Drugs Unit said he got a search warrant immediately after he was given confidential information that an unknown person carrying drugs had booked into the Academy Hotel in Findlater Place.

He told prosecuting counsel, Mr Fergal Foley BL, that gardai found O'Shaughnessy on a single bed with a holdall bag containing the cocaine nearby.

Det Gda Doran said O'Shaughnessy admitted he was responsible for the drugs and made a statement in which he outlined he owed a debt to a drug dealer and was paying it back by acting as a courier. He had no previous convictions and had not come to garda notice since.

Mr Erwan Mill Arden SC, for O'Shaughnessy, said his client had become a victim of Holland's drug culture after going there to work.

He was introduced to cocaine after a millennium party by somebody who said to him "try that" and became addicted very quickly.

Mr Mill Arden said his client had successfully completed a rehabilitation course and had the support of his family. He fully accepted he would have to be punished for his offence but there was ample evidence to suggest that the mandatory term of ten years would be unduly harsh.

Mr Mill Arden added that O'Shaughnessy had thrown away his glorious past and came before the court as a convicted drug smuggler. He had thrown absolutely everything he had down the drain because of two years of madness.

O'Shaughnessy faced a possible minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years as the value of the drugs exceeded €12,700, with the maximum sentence for such offences life imprisonment.

He was a member of the board of directors of the Irish Aviation Authority for two terms since its foundation in 1994. O'Shaughnessy was also a member of Shannon Town Commissioners from 1995 to 1999 when he didn't seek re-election.