2024-01-11
'Not a master drug dealer': jail for man who went out in untaxed van with €1.7m in cocaine
Stage: Sentence
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: At a hearing today, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that gardaí told Lawlor on arrest: "You're not a master drug dealer, are you?" He replied: "Not driving around in a van with no tax, I'm not." "If you're going to carry a lot of drugs, you should have tax on the car at least," Judge Martin Nolan remarked in passing sentence today. Judge Nolan sentenced Lawlor to five and a half years in prison, noting that he was a mature man and had involved himself in this offence by reason of his substance abuse and long-standing addiction.