Meath man gets 15 years for heroin possession

Two men from Meath and north County Dublin have been jailed for terms of 15 years and seven years respectively arising out of the seizure of heroin valued €5.75m, the largest ever seizure of heroin at the time.

Alan Coffey, a 32-year-old electrician and father of six, from The Lane, Foxlodge Woods, Ratoath pleaded guilty to having possession of the heroin for sale or supply on June 24, 2006 at his home.

He also admitted being in possession of a 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol at Brookvale Road, River Valley, Swords on the same occasion. He had a €300-a-day cocaine problem.

Frank Nolan, a 29-year-old mechanic from Georges Court, Balbriggan, who pleaded guilty to having possession for an unlawful purpose of four of the same semiautomatic pistols and 2,974 rounds of ammunition on the same date at the same Swords address, was jailed for seven years.

Judge Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said Coffey’s offence was of "a very grave nature" considering the quantity and type of drugs and that Nolan "was in fear of others which led him to being involved".

She accepted that both men had expressed "deep remorse" for their crimes and took into account the financial and emotional hardship their dependants would experience with their years in prison.

She also accepted that although both had previous convictions, neither had been charged with a drug or firearm offence before and both handed a large amount of positive testimonials into court.

Detective Garda John Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel, Mr Sean Gillane BL, that the two men and a woman still awaiting trial, were under surveillance after gardaí received confidential information. They were seen going into different pubs with friends on the night of June 23, 2006 before they all moved to Nolan's home.

Coffey was seen leaving Nolan's home and putting "an object" in the boot of his Silver Volkswagen Passat that was parked outside before he drove home to Ratoath.

The next day gardaí carried out simultaneous searches on both Coffey's and Nolan's home.

A search of Coffey's Meath home revealed two large boxes of 28.75Kg of €5.75m worth of heroin in the kitchen.

Coffey told gardaí that the drugs were cocaine and he was taking responsibility for them and the other person in the house at time had nothing to do with them.

A search of the Passat outside his home revealed a semi-automatic pistol. He accepted that the car was his but said he had never seen the gun before.

Two loaded magazines were found in the kitchen, €13,900 in cash was found hidden in a sock and two small amounts of cocaine, worth €2,909 were found in the pockets of a jacket and hooded top in a wardrobe.

Four semi-automatic pistols, the same make as that found in the Passat, were found hidden under the panel of a wardrobe in a bedroom in Nolan's home.

Nolan told gardaí that he was holding the guns for "someone else" and that this person threatened he would kill him if he didn't hide the stash.

Det Gda Fitzgerald said that the pistols and ammunition were forensically analyzed and were found to be in good working order.

Coffey had a number of previous convictions including theft, public order and road traffic offences while Nolan had previously received an 18-month suspended sentence for endangerment and had been convicted of criminal damage.

Coffey's mother told defence counsel, Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, that her son had three boys from a previous marriage and three daughters from his current relationship. He was a qualified electrician who had his own business and was a hardworking family man.

"He was never a taker, was always a giver," she said. She added that she didn't realise he had a cocaine problem at the time that cost him €300 per day and was now in serious money difficulties. His main concern was the "emotional and financial situation" for his partner and children.

Noel King, whose daughter is married to Nolan's brother, told Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that he found it hard to believe that Nolan was before the court on this charge. He said Nolan’s family were "honest, hardworking, ordinary people".

Mr O'Higgins said Nolan was a mechanic who worked in the family business and had progressed to working as a manager in the company. He was recently diagnosed with Crone's disease.

Mr O’Higgins handed in a "booklet of references" which he said described his client as a "decent respectable man". He said it was a "very serious offence" and Nolan's involvement was very difficult to understand and "just doesn't sit with his background".

Counsel said Nolan had written a letter for the court in which he acknowledged that he made a "serious error" and his actions had negatively impacted on many people and broken his parents' hearts.

Mr O'Higgins said his client would go back to leading a useful life after his release from prison and would bring up his children "with the values he has breached".