Death-threat drug user jailed for eight years

A drug user whose life was threatened after he was caught with over €40,000 worth of cocaine, heroin and cannabis has been jailed for eight years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Christopher Kelly (aged 24) received death threats on his mobile phone, was warned by gardaí that his life was in danger and at one stage had a grenade thrown in through the front window of his house, after he was arrested while "holding" and "bagging" drugs.

Garda William Skelly said that Kelly was "bagging heroin" to clear a drug debt and that after his arrest he also received text messages which implied he would "probably be shot". He said that Kelly had taken a loan of €15,000 from his family and agreed to give up his dole money in an effort to clear his debt.

Kelly, of Greenfort Gardens, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and cocaine for sale or supply at the same address on November 21, 2007 and on January 11, 2008, and to possession of heroin for sale or supply at Harelawn Park, Clondalkin on January 26, 2008.

Judge Martin Nolan noted that the "supposed minimum sentence" for the last offence was 10 years but that special circumstances existed in this case. He imposed an eight-year sentence, saying "it’s the most lenient I can give".

Gda Skelly told Mr Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting, that gardaí searched Kelly’s home on November 21, 2007 after carrying out surveillance on him.

They found a number of items in his bedroom, including bags of cocaine hidden in a sock, heroin, a weighing scales and cannabis. The total value of the drugs was estimated at just under €4,000.

Gda Skelly told Mr Shane Costelloe BL, defending, that Kelly told them he was holding the cocaine to "bag it" and "move on" in an attempt to partly pay off a drug debt he had built up through his own use of cocaine.

Gda Skelly said that Kelly was co-operative during the investigation but did not answer some questions because he feared the people he was holding the drugs for.

He said that after his arrest, an explosive device was thrown in through the window of Kelly’s house and that a number of men had called to his home to threaten him.

Gardaí searched Kelly’s home for a second time on January 11, 2008 after receiving confidential information about his activities and found a small bag of crack cocaine, three bags of heroin and a digital weighing-scales.

They also recovered a tin box of cocaine, which had been thrown from a bedroom window into a neighbouring garden. The drugs recovered were valued at just under €7,000.

Gda Skelly told Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that Kelly pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs, and that it was around this time that gardaí notified him of a threat to his life.

He said that Kelly was not really making money from the drugs he was holding and that he was trying to clear the debt which had arisen following his earlier arrest.

Kelly was arrested for a third time after leaving a house in Harelawn Park on January 26, 2008.

Gardaí had watched him remove a package from undergrowth in a public park earlier that day and deliver it to the house.

When they approached him he ran back into the house and tried to exit through the back but when gardaí gave chase he stopped, shouting "Stop, I’ll give it up".

They found three bags of heroin in a search of the defendant which were valued at just under €37,000.

Ms Kennedy said that her client had a serious drug habit, which had progressed from cannabis to cocaine and was in a "cycle of debt" which was only broken by his last arrest. She said that Kelly "deeply regrets" what he did and the impact the situation has had on his family.