Judge warns of dangers of cocaine as drug is now 'the most popular in Cork'

The judge was commenting on a case in which a man was given community service in lieu of a prison term after his solicitor told the court he had turned his life around

The judge warned of the dangers posed by cocaine and the cocaine trade internationally. Picture: iStock

Cocaine now appears to be Cork’s most popular drug, a judge has said, warning of the death and destruction its manufacture causes internationally.

Judge Colm Roberts was commenting on a case in which a young man was given community service in lieu of a prison term after his solicitor told the court how he had worked to turn his life around.

Peter Ziga, 20, was found with 7.95gr of cocaine, which gardaí estimate has a street value of €556.78.

Judge Roberts commented on the specificity of that value, "as if there was a very clear market" for the drug.

He told Midleton District Court that cocaine was “a very serious drug” and “seemingly the most popular in Cork at the moment.” 

It makes people drink more alcohol and act more violently, he said.

But the drug’s manufacture is also terrible, causing many deaths before it ever gets to Ireland, he said.

He was particularly critical of those who use the drug casually and do not think of the consequences. 

People who delight in human rights cannot also deal with cocaine due to the death and destruction it causes internationally, he said.

Mr Ziga, of College Manor, Ticknock, Cobh, had been under garda surveillance before his arrest.

He was seen by gardaí on October 9, 2021 “acting suspiciously” and “having transactions” with a number of “suspicious” people in Cobh.

He was then observed leaving a pub with his girlfriend, getting into a car, and reaching over to the car console.

He was searched and subsequently arrested and charged for sale or supply of cocaine on October 9, 2021 under Section 15 the Misuse of Drugs Act in Cobh.

His solicitor, Don Ryan, said that Ziga had not come to any further garda attention since the offence in 2021.

He now has a young child and he is working full-time in a warehouse. He engaged with the Probation Service following a previous drugs charge and he had sought assistance for drug abuse.

“He is only 20. His mother is with him in court and he has distanced himself from the people he was with in October 2021," Mr Ryan said.

Judge Roberts acknowledged that Ziga was a young man, he had engaged with the Probation Service, he is working and he has a young child.

“This is all super positive,” Judge Roberts said.

He offered Ziga the option of community service to avoid jail but warned him that his commitment to community service “has to be serious.”.

“I don’t want a situation where you’re saying ‘I love you’ and tomorrow ‘I don’t love you’. It has to be serious,” he said.

The young man received 120 hours community service in lieu of four months in prison.