Accused on €30k heroin charge claims he missed court due to drug-induced injury 

Paul Marken fell out of his wheelchair while high on cocaine and Benzodiazepines but there was confusion over when he actually went into hospital

The judge said she had sympathy with the accused but it was a serious drugs charge and bail was refused.

A Dublin man who failed to show up to face sentencing for having over €30,000 worth of heroin in Cork city claimed that he got so intoxicated on cocaine and Benzodiazepines that he fell out of his wheelchair and had to be hospitalised.

Paul Marken, 57, of Back Lane Hostel, Christchurch Square, The Liberties, Dublin, claimed that he had to be taken to Mercy University Hospital on the day he was due to appear in Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

However, Detective Garda Linda O’Keeffe presented the hospital’s record of his admission and that it was the following day that he was admitted to hospital.

Marken claimed that the hospital document was in error in relation to the date and that it should have been recorded as the previous day.

Det Garda O’Keeffe accepted that Marken was hospitalised but not on the day he was claiming.

“He fell out of his wheelchair as a result of intoxication with substances including Benzodiazepines and cocaine,” Det Garda O’Keeffe said.

Defence barrister, Brian Leahy, said the accused had a lot of medical difficulties and uses a wheelchair. He previously had to have a leg amputated.

Mr Leahy said Marken signed a plead of guilty to a charge of having Diamorphine for sale or supply on August 27, 2021, at a time when its street value exceeded €13,000, the threshold figure for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The drugs were seized following a search of the accused at Mayfield Garda Station.

Judge Catherine Staines said: “Clearly, Mr Marken’s circumstances are very difficult medically and I have huge sympathy for him.”

However, the judge said it was a serious drugs case and that the defendant failed to maintain contact with the probation service as he had been required to do.

Judge Staines refused bail and remanded him in custody for sentencing on May 11. The judge directed that he would get whatever medical attention he needs when in prison.