Court to sentence Rattigan on drugs charges

Convicted murderer Brian Rattigan is to be sentenced at the Special Criminal Court for the possession and supply of €1m worth of heroin.

The non-jury court found the 32-year-old, formerly of Cooley Road, Drimnagh, was the director of a drugs gang conducting the deal.

Mr Rattigan is believed to be the first dealer found guilty of directing the supply of drugs while incarcerated.

He had denied one count of heroin possession and two counts of possession of the drug for sale or supply at a house on Hughes Road South, Walkinstown, in Dublin on May 21, 2008.

The Special Criminal Court was satisfied that a “tick list” was sent by Rattigan to a Nokia mobile phone found with the five kilogrammes of heroin and this, taken in conjunction with notes found in his prison cell, amounted to directions as to the distribution of the drugs.

He was tried by the non-jury court at the direction of the DPP on the grounds that the ordinary courts are inadequate to deal with the case.

Brian Rattigan is currently serving a life sentence for murder and will be sentenced on the drugs charges today.