Convicted drug dealer pleads guilty to hiding heroin, cannabis and mobile phone in prison toilet

By Declan Brennan and Brion Hoban

A convicted drug dealer was caught hiding heroin, cannabis and a mobile phone behind a panel above the toilet bowl in his prison cell.

Dean Reynolds (25) of Windmill Park, Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of a mobile phone and heroin and cannabis for sale or supply in Mountjoy prison on October 21, 2014.

Judge Karen O’Connor sentenced Reynolds to two and a half years imprisonment for the drug offences with the final fifteen months suspended providing he keep the peace and be of good behaviour and engage with probation services upon release.

Reynolds also received a one-year sentence for possession of the mobile phone inside the prison. The two sentences will run concurrently.

Detective Garda Jason Weir told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that Reynolds was serving a sentence in Dublin's Mountjoy prison when prison officers searched his cell.

A sock hanging from a pipe using a lace was discovered hidden behind an access panel above the toilet bowl. The panel was held in place with screws and officers opened this to search behind it.

Inside the sock they found the mobile phone, a spare battery, €40 worth of cannabis herb and €360 worth of heroin.

An analysis of the mobile phone SIM card found that six calls had been made in recent days.

Reynolds' previous convictions include a number of drug dealing offences, as well as convictions for assault causing harm, criminal damage, and possession of firearms and ammunition.

In July 2012 he received a six year prison sentence for an offence committed in January 2012, when he was 18 years old. He was serving this sentence at the time the sock was discovered.

Oisin Clarke BL, defending, said his client had a difficult childhood. He said Reynolds suffered domestic abuse at the hands of his mother, who had drug addiction issues.

Reynolds and his siblings were put into care and he began abusing drugs and alcohol from an early age. Counsel said a lot of his client's convictions were from the Children's Court.

He said that while in custody Reynolds took part in a charitable triathlon fundraiser for Crumlin Children's Hospital. Since his recent release from custody he had taken up work as a general labourer.

Judge O’Connor said Reynolds did not appear to “acknowledge the serious and chronic drug problem he has”. She said she hoped he would take measures during his imprisonment to rehabilitate so he could “be the parent to his child he hopes to be.”