Student caught with €17k worth of cocaine in West Cork was assaulted the day after arrest

Accused owed money and became involved in delivering drugs to West Cork, court told

Accused admitted delivering drugs to West Cork on two or three occasions.

A student transporting €17,000 worth of cocaine in West Cork was arrested and questioned by gardaí and the following day he was the victim of an attack that left him with a serious head injury.

Judge Cormac Quinn said the attack was consistent with the view the accused was under duress and in fear of others in carrying out the offence of carrying this quantity of drugs.

Sant Edosomwan, of The Drive, Pheasants Run, Clonee, Dublin, was sentenced to two years in prison for having the drugs for sale or supply.

Detective Garda David Barrett testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that gardaí encountered the defendant on April 28, 2023, driving a black Ford Fiesta in the Innishannon area. The tax was out of date and when gardaí were talking to him it was noticed he and his passenger were becoming visibly nervous.

The vehicle was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Det Garda Barrett said a small ball-shaped object was found underneath the driver’s seat, along with a taser/stun-gun and a hatchet.

“He was arrested and interviewed on two occasions and he made no particular admission. [Later], he said he was aware there were probably drugs in the car that he was transporting. He admitted delivering drugs to West Cork on two or three occasions.

“He was a student at the time. He has no previous convictions. He was 20 at the time,” Det. Garda Barrett said.

Asked about the taser and the hatchet he said he had them for his own protection.

Defence barrister Ben Shorten said the accused owed money and that was the reason he became involved in this activity. He said the young man was in his third year in Maynooth University studying computers and doing well. 

Prior to this drug-dealing, he tried to support himself as a student by selling clothing but this enterprise ran aground during covid and he got himself into debt, Mr Shorten said.

Judge Quinn noted the day after his arrest for this offence, the defendant’s home was ransacked and there was an assault on him. Det Garda Barrett accepted gardaí in Dublin had received a report in relation to this and an investigation was ongoing.

The judge said he was satisfied the defendant was a person who was not going to offend in the future. 

“I take into consideration his remorse and good history of employment. In relation to culpability, he was under financial pressure. He was assaulted the next day, consistent with operating out of fear and duress.

“The question is whether the two years should be fully suspended. I don’t find it is a suitable case for a fully suspended sentence,” the judge concluded as he jailed Sant Edosomwan for two years.