Cork mothers caught with drugs after getting lost on M1

Three "silly and stupid" Cork mothers who drove to Dublin on a "day out" to collect cannibis valued €140,000 have been jailed for various terms by Judge Frank O’Donnell.

Three "silly and stupid" Cork mothers who drove to Dublin on a "day out" to collect cannabis valued €140,000 have been jailed for various terms by Judge Frank O’Donnell.

Nicola Duggan (aged 27) Dublin Street, Blackpool; Vivienne O’Donovan (aged 27) Farranferris Green, Farranree; and Niamh Tracey (aged 27) Fairhill Drive, Fairhill were caught by gardaí when they got lost on the way home.

Judge O’Donnell said they appeared to be on a "day out" and told them: "You are not the classical vulnerable people deprived of options who act as drug couriers. You had options and took the wrong one."

He jailed Duggan for five years because she organised the collection for people who would profit by selling the drugs on Cork streets; O’Donovan for four years because she provided her car for the crime; and Tracey as the "least culpable" for three years.

They pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession for sale or sale supply on March 11, 2005 of 20 kilograms of cannabis resin with a market value of €140,000.

Detective Garda William Armstrong told prosecuting counsel, Mr Fergal Foley BL, the women collected the cannabis in Dublin city centre but got lost on the way home and ended up driving northbound on the M1 towards the Airport, where they were stopped by gardaí who found the cannabis in the boot of their car.

Duggan admitted she had organised the run and had asked O’Donovan to get involved because she had a car. Tracey said she had just "come along for the drive" but knew they were picking up drugs.

Det Gda Armstrong, of the National Drugs Unit, said gardaí regarded the women as "very silly and stupid".

He said they expected some small financial reward but were not aware of the value or quantity of the drugs.

He said O’Donovan and Duggan had no previous convictions and had never come to Garda attention, while Tracey had one previous conviction for theft.

Det Gda Armstrong agreed with defence counsel for the women that they all expressed remorse, fully co-operated with gardaí and were unlikely to reoffend.

Mr Padraig Dwyer SC (with Ms Marie Torrens BL), for Duggan, said his "foolish and stupid" client agreed she had been in phone contact with the organisers of the criminal escapade and had "roped in" the others.

Mr Dwyer said there had been a history of "violence and aggression" in Duggan’s own family and she had gone on herself to become a single mother of two children within abusive relationships with older men.

He said she had matured in the past year and urged Judge O’Donnell to consider a suspended sentence, taking into account the circumstances of the case.

Mr Paul Burns SC, defending O'Donovan, said she was "easily lead, foolish and naïve" and had bought a car shortly before the incident which led to her involvement.

Mr Burns said O'Donovan, a mother of two, had worked up to recently in the catering department of a Cork hospital and had demonstrated her caring nature towards the elderly patients. He submitted that she could still make a worthwhile contribution to society if a suspended sentence was imposed.

Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, defending Tracey, said her involvement had simply been that of a passenger and she had not previously been involved in drugs "in any way, shape or form".

Ms Kennedy said Tracey was a mother of one from a dysfunctional family background and had been the victim of aggressive behaviour in her own childhood.

She had been suffering from anxiety and depression and counsel asked Judge O’Donnell to consider her "exceptional and specific circumstances".