Addict with 'appalling history' given five-year sentence

A man who relapsed into heroin addiction following his marriage breakdown has been jailed for five years for drug dealing by Judge Patrick McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Louis Lennon (aged 39) of St Anthony's Road, Rialto who was caught by gardaí smoking drugs in his bed-sit. pleaded guilty to possession of €17,070 worth of heroin for sale or supply on December 23, 2006.

His 39 previous convictions included armed robbery and burglary crimes.

Judge McCartan said that Lennon had effectively no option but to plead guilty having been caught by gardaí smoking heroin while surrounded by numerous street deals of the drug.

He said that Lennon was a man with “an appalling history that was of his own making” and that he committed the offence at a time when his marriage was gone and he was completly out of control.

Judge McCartan accepted that since his remand in custody last year Lennon had made “valiant efforts” to deal with his drug addiction and had impressed numerous agencies by demonstrating a desire to change his ways.

“I hope you can move away from a life of crime and be someone your children can be proud of.”

Garda Damien O'Farrell told Mr Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, that Lennon had both a heroin and alcohol addiction at the time.

Gda O'Farrell agreed with Mr Remy Farrell BL, defending, that Lennon's bed-sit was part of a large house that had been divided into a number of smaller flats and accepted that he was not the only person in the house who had a drug addiction.

He also accepted that Lennon had displayed “no trappings of wealth” and was not “too adept” at preparing the drugs for sale as many of the deals were heavier than what would usually be sold on the streets.

Mr Farrell told Judge McCartan that although his client's previous convictions dated back to 1980 there was a period between the mid nineties and 2004 when he had effectively stayed out of trouble. He said it was during the time that Lennon was married and was holding down a full-time job.

When his marriage broke down he was thrown out of the family house and was effectively homeless. He squatted in a flat complex where he re-acquainted himself with those he had been associated with in his youth and started using heroin again.