Teen worked as drug courier to pay off debt

A teenage boy was forced to work as a drug courier and to deliver supplies of ecstasy tablets to work off a debt, a court has heard.

Dublin Children’s Court heard how the 16-year-old boy was dragged into the world of drug dealing.

He had owed money to a drug dealer who then threatened him with violence if he would not act as a courier to repay the debt.

Judge Mary Collins was told that the boy had owed €100 to the drug dealer.

"I was under pressure, I had to pay it off. I was buying hash. Now I want to get into rehab," the boy told Judge Collins.

He had been arrested in Swords in March, making a delivery of a bag full of ecstasy tablets, Garda David Leydon said.

The exact value of the tablets was not publicly stated in court.

The boy had earlier bought €100 worth of cannabis from the drug dealer who then forced him to work as one of his couriers.

He had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty to possession of the tablets with intent to supply to others.

Judge Collins said that she took into consideration the pressure the boy had been under.

However, she said: "It is people like you who make it possible for the drug dealers to operate. They get other people involved who then get addicted," she said.

"The big operators make millions ruining other peoples lives," she told the boy.

"Stay away from these people. They put the pressure on, that is how they work, and you take the brunt," she also advised him.

Judge Collins said that she wanted to see the boy get "onto the straight and narrow" and adjourned sentencing to give him time to show the steps he has taken to get onto a training course.

The boy was released on bail until a date in October.