Adult shop owner awaits sentence on cocaine charge

The co-owner of "Miss Fantasia", an adult shop in Dublin city centre, has been remanded for sentence in October this year after being found in possession of almost €4,000 worth of cocaine.

Justin Parr, aged 36, of Liberty Court, Blackpitts pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cocaine worth of €3,731 on December 17, 2003 at his home and in his shop, Miss Fantasia, on South William Street.

Detective Garda Philip Roe told prosecuting counsel, Ms Martina Baxter BL, that cocaine worth €2,135 was found in a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in the shop. Parr produced it after being asked by gardaí whether he had anything in the shop he should not have.

Det. Garda Roe said Parr denied selling drugs and said the cocaine was for his own use. Gardaí then searched his home address and found cocaine worth €1,596 as well as various drugs related paraphernalia including a large number of "empty wraps" with cocaine residue.

Parr denied that a card found in his home, with names of people and either amounts of money or a certain weight in grams written opposite them, related to drug dealing.

He said he normally bought small bags worth €100 but had so much in his possession at the time because it was coming up to Christmas.

Mr Bernard Condon BL, for Parr, told Judge Desmond Hogan that his client, who had a weekly income of €1,000, was spending half the amount on drugs at the time of his arrest.

He only provided drugs to a "select clientele" and was not running "a drugs supermarket", Mr Condon told Judge Hogan. He added that Parr was a member of a subculture in which people engaged in recreational drugs use but had become addicted along the way.

Judge Hogan told Mr Condon that Parr selling drugs to "only a selected clientele" in no way mitigated the seriousness of the crime.

He said, however, that he was taking into account that Parr had no previous convictions and remanded him on bail for sentence on October 19 . A Probation and Welfare services report is be prepared for that hearing.