Courts / Dublin / Report

Gail O'Rourke wrote letter in support of taxi driver caught with over €250k in drugs

Summary

In March 2017, Gail O'Rourke, who had been acquitted in 2015 of an attempt to assist a friend's suicide, appeared in court to support taxi driver Stephen Murphy, who faces a mandatory ten‑year minimum sentence for drug dealing. O'Rourke, who recently published a book about her experiences, and her husband Barry wrote a letter to Judge Melanie Greally stating that Murphy had "lost so much of his life" because of the offence and that his son suffers from Crohn's disease. Murphy, 44, was caught with €273,859 worth of drugs—including ketamine, ecstasy tablets and cannabis—in the boot of his taxi after a Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau surveillance operation. He pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply on North Road, Finglas, on 13 May 2015 and is scheduled to be sentenced on 10 March. The Garda investigation began after a tip‑off that drugs were being moved in the Finglas area.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Gail O'Rourke wrote letter in support of taxi driver caught with over €250k in drugs. Charges or matters: possession of drugs for sale or supply on North Road, Finglas on May 13, 2015. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• May 13, 2015 Incident
• March 10 Incident
• 2017-03-01 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report