Cork heroin dealer gets 11 years

A heroin dealer who was under heavy garda surveillance was caught dealing the dangerous drug in Cork city five times in a four-month period and today he was jailed for eleven years.

Judge Patrick J. Moran made several shorter sentences consecutive to make an eleven-year total because the accused was committing the offences while out on bail.

Judge Moran said, Somalia-born Abdulhakim Yusuf, 32, had shown a total disregard for the fact that he was under Garda surveillance and he continued to deal heroin despite their attentions.

Sergeant Jason Lynch of the Drugs Squad in Cork, responded to a question from the judge about the extent of heroin in Cork: “Over the last three years, there has been an increase of use of heroin in the city. It is a worrying trend, especially from out perspective. The amounts are relatively small compared to other drugs but it is increasing.”

Of the five times that Yusuf was caught at various flats in Cork city with heroin for supply, the total quantity of the drugs seized amounted to 76 grammes, with an approximate street value of €17,000.

Judge Moran agreed that the selling of heroin in Cork was a worrying trend.

He said the city was fortunate that there was not widespread availability of the drugs in the city previously.

The judge noted that this was the first heroin supply case with which he had dealt.

The five offences by Yusuf were committed between September 23, 2006 and January 4, 2007. He was remanded in custody after the last offence, and yesterday’s sentence was backdated to that date.

The quantity of drugs seized from Yusuf represented up to 35% of the heroin seized in Cork city during that period.

Yusuf told his senior counsel, James O’Mahony, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday that he was totally ashamed of what he had done, that it was against his religion as a Muslim, and that he had had only done it because he had a heroin addiction at the time.

He lived at various addresses in Cork during the period of his offending behaviour and over the previous five years. Mr O’Mahony SC said the defendant had been a contributing member of society and had a full time job but he lost it when he became addicted to heroin.

He has no family in Ireland, a factor the defence asked Judge Moran to take into consideration. In one search, the defendant was founding in a flat sitting on his bed, using a credit card to divide heroin into separate deals on a dinner plate.