Corkman faces sentencing for having '15 deals of cocaine in his undergarments'

The man's defence solicitor told the court his client 'was in a situation to hold the cocaine on behalf of another party.'

The court was told that the cocaine had a street value of €500. File picture

Fifteen deals of cocaine were found concealed in a man’s undergarments when gardaí searched him and now he faces sentencing at Cork District Court.

The 40-year-old Midleton man accused of having cocaine and almost 800 Alprazolam tablets for sale or supply at Wellington Road in Cork, pleaded guilty to the crimes.

Derry Healy of 8 Forrest Hill, Midleton, County Cork, was charged by Garda Eoghan O’Mahony with the drugs offences committed on November 1, 2023, at Wellington Road, Cork.

Sergeant Gearóid Davis said the tablets had a street value of €3,000. He also said that gardaí searching Mr Healy found that “he had a package containing 15 deals of cocaine in his undergarments”. The cocaine had a street value of €500.

Sgt Davis said Derry Healy had 11 previous convictions for having drugs for his own use.

Defence solicitor Joseph Cuddigan stressed that the charges dated back to November 2023. He said the matter could not have been dealt with before now because forensic analysis had to be carried out on the drugs.

“Once that was done the plea was forthcoming. 

He was not so much dealing — he was holding it for someone. He was in a situation to hold the cocaine on behalf of another party.

“He had been making quite good progress other than this slip,” Mr Cuddigan said.

“It was not a slip — this is quite serious. We all know the difficulties being caused by cocaine in Cork,” Judge Mary Dorgan said.

Mr Cuddigan challenged the €3,000 valuation for the tablets and said it was closer to half of that. The solicitor said that the defendant used Alprazolam — a Xanax-type tablet — himself. 

He suggested that it might be of assistance to have a probation report prepared on the accused. Judge Dorgan agreed to adjourn sentencing for a probation report until October 16 but commented: “His excuses are somewhat hollow.”