Ten years for man caught with €70,000 worth of cocaine

A Dublin man has been jailed for ten years for possessing cocaine valued over €70,000.

Stephen Proudfoot (27) of Moatview Drive, Priorswood was convicted by a jury in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last November (2007) of possessing over a 1kg of the drug with intent to supply it.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Waters, of the National Drugs Unit, told prosecuting counsel, Mr Fergal Foley BL, he observed Proudfoot collecting a white package containing what was revealed to be 1.007kg of cocaine from a transit van in the car park of the Priorswood Shopping Centre.

Det Sgt Waters said gardaí had mounted a surveillance operation on the shopping centre on October 6, 2005 after receiving information that it was been used for drug deals.

He observed a white Ford Transit van pulling in and the driver leaving the area in another car. A motorcycle then entered the carpark followed by a Ford Focus car with Proudfoot in the passenger seat.

Det Sgt Waters said the motorcyclist pointed to the white van and Proudfoot got out of the car to collect a white package from the passenger seat and took it back to the car.

Gardaí then blocked the entrances to the carpark and the Ford Focus occupants attempted to escape on foot with Proudfoot throwing the package away as he ran. They were caught on Clonshaugh Avenue and the driver of the Transit van was also arrested nearby.

Proudfoot gave evidence at the trial that he went over to the van to check if there was anything to steal from it and when he saw the package he thought it was a "present".

He maintained that he had been on the way to the chipper when the Ford Focus driver picked him up. He said he had no knowledge of the drug deal and he did not know the people in the other vehicles.

Judge Tony Hunt told Proudfoot that he was "unimpressed with the story you offered the jury" in his trial last year and backdated the sentence to August 08, 2007.