59-year-old father of three jailed for dealing drugs

A 59-year-old father-of-three with no previous convictions was told by Judge Patrick McCartan, "going to prison at this late stage in your life will be difficult", when he gave him a 15-year-sentence for drug dealing.

His co-accused, a 48-year-old epileptic with an intellectual disability, and also with no previous convictions, was treated for seizures in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after being given a three-year-sentence.

Bernard Dowling, of Comeragh Road, Drimnagh, who was handed the 15-year term by Judge McCartan and Rory Sherwin of Windmill Lane, Dublin 2 pleaded guilty to possession for sale or supply of cannabis and cocaine valued more than €200,000 on March 30, 2006.

The cache was stored at his home by Sherwin who also pleaded guilty to possession of heroin valued €170.

Dowling further pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on December 8, 2007 in Clontarf.

His defence counsel, Mr Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, said that around the time of the 2006 offence, Dowling had found out that his daughter in Australia had serious health problems and he was trying to save money to visit her and help her financially with her treatment.

Mr Ó Lideadha (with Mr Bernard Condon BL) said Dowling’s second crime after being charged with the first offence "raised questions about whether he was connected to the reality he was facing".

Garda Dermot English told Mr Paul Greene BL, prosecuting, that €8,000 worth of cocaine was found on Dowling on March 30, 2006, after he’d been in Sherwin’s home.

Gardaí then found €145,792 worth of cannabis and €53,288 worth of cocaine in a loft in Sherwin’s back garden. The heroin was found inside the house and Sherwin said this was for his own use.

Gda English said Dowling took responsibility for the rest of the drugs but Sherwin admitted knowing about them, saying he was being paid €150 a week to allow his house to be used.

Dowling brought the drugs to and from the house. He added that both were drug addicts at the time and neither had any wealth or assets.

Garda Jason Crotty said that when gardaí searched an apartment in Clontarf in which Dowling was visiting on December 8, 2007, a kilo of cocaine, worth €67,550, was thrown out the window and landed at a garda’s feet. Dowling later took responsibility for it.

Gda Crotty agreed with Mr Ó Lideadha that Dowling had been using heroin and cocaine for the past 30 years and Gda English agreed with that Dowling was paid "just enough money" to feed his habit by delivering drugs, but he wouldn’t say who was paying him as his life would be in danger.

Gda English also agreed that Dowling had a long work history despite a drink problem, which worsened and progressed to heroin when his mother died in 1980.

Sherwin said he was off alcohol 12 years and was now also off drugs. He said a man he met in the Simon Community first began using his home to store drugs, after coming to stay "a week, then two weeks and then a year" with him.

He became aware but didn’t stop him as he was afraid, didn’t know what to do and was given heroin worth €150 per week. He said he lived with and cared for his mother in Windmill Lane until she died and now lived with his sister and cared for a disabled friend, both of whom were in court.

"I’ve got my life together. I’m very sorry," he told the judge. "It wasn’t me. I was strung out."

Mr Ciarán O’Loughlin SC, defending, asked for a suspended sentence for Sherwin who, he said, had psychological problems as well as intellectual disabilities.

Mr O’Loughlin handed in medical reports that indicated Sherwin would be bullied and harassed in prison. He said that having been made redundant, Sherwin now earned €222 a week on a community employment scheme where he was learning to read and write.

Judge McCartan suspended the final five years of Dowling’s sentence on conditions and the final year of Sherwin’s.

He said Sherwin’s role was different as he was distanced from the drugs and showed "naivety and limited intelligence" in keeping the cache at his home after being warned by a person "higher up the ladder" that Dowling had been arrested.

"He didn’t take the advice and told gardaí he didn’t think there was that much there."