Eight years for drug courier

A father of two who became a drug courier when he fell into financial difficulties after losing his job has been jailed for eight years by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Thomas Sutton (aged 39), who has no previous convictions, told gardaí that he would go to a pub for a drink and leave his car boot unlocked outside for the drugs to be dropped off and later collected at another pub.

Sutton, of Burnell Square, Northern Cross, Clarehall, pleaded guilty to possession of the cocaine valued at €228,000 for sale or supply in the boot of a car parked at his home on July 15, 2008.

Judge Delahunt told Sutton: "You were a social user of cocaine and this is probably how you came into contact with the persons you went into business with."

She noted the loss of his job in 2007 may have tempted him into becoming involved in this offence but told him: "You were not on the lowest rung of the ladder. You provided an effective barrier between the gardaí and the barons in the drug trade."

Judge Delahunt imposed an eight-year sentence and ordered the forfeiture of €3,370 found in his home and on Sutton’s person at the time of his arrest.

Detective Garda Gregory Sheehan told Mr Kerida Naidoo BL, prosecuting, that gardaí acting on confidential information searched Sutton’s home and car where they found cocaine with a street value of €228,000. They also found a weighing scales.

Sutton told gardaí he would not like to say who gave him the drugs because he feared for his own safety.

Defence counsel, Mr Paul McDermott SC, said Sutton was a divorced father of two, one child with his wife and one with his current partner. He said Sutton had lost his job in the building trade in 2007 and in his efforts to continue to support his two families and pay a mortgage he had come under financial strain.

He said Sutton came from a hardworking law-abiding family who were shocked at his involvement in this offence. He submitted that this offence was "out of character" for Sutton who had entered an early guilty plea.