Dublin carer admits 'holding' €25,000 worth of cocaine

A Dublin man who had cocaine valued at over €25,000 hidden in his bedroom in the home he shares with his disabled mother will be sentenced later by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Graham Metzger (aged 23), of Foxdene Green, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possession of nearly three and a half kilos of cocaine for sale or supply at his home on May 24, 2005.

Detective Garda Maura McGarry told Sean Gillane BL, prosecuting, that gardai searched Metzger’s home and found cocaine hidden under his bed and in a wardrobe.

He told gardaí he did not own the drugs but was holding them for another person he was afraid to name. He owed €5,000 for cocaine he had bought "on tick" and his debt would be reduced as payment for keeping the drugs at his home.

Det Gda McGarry accepted that Metxger was not a "player" in the drugs trade and came from a law abiding and respectable family. She said he was the primary carer for his sister, mother and father who all suffered from health difficulties.

She agreed with Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that Metzger had no previous convictions, his offence was "out of character" and he was unlikely to reoffend. Ms Kennedy said her cilent no longer used drugs.

Judge Katherine Delahunt heard that a number of Metzger’s neighbours were in court to support him and she remanded him on continuing bail until a sentence date later this month.