Courts / Dublin / Report
Man (21) has not come to garda attention since 2015 cocaine bust
Summary
Shane Craig, 21, was caught in 2015 carrying over €140,000 worth of cocaine in a rucksack while homeless. Gardaí searched his residence and found drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to possession of €142,761 worth of drugs at Foxhill Park, Donaghmede. In 2019 Judge Melanie Greally suspended a five‑year prison term in full, imposing strict conditions: engagement with the Probation Service for five years and random drug testing. The judge noted six Probation Service reports and a prior one‑year probation bond. Craig's probation officer confirmed he no longer used drugs and had made "extremely positive changes." Both Craig and his mother were homeless at the time, and the judge highlighted his vulnerability, addiction, drug debt and mental health problems. The suspended sentence reflects the judge's view that Craig's circumstances placed the case in the narrow category of a fully suspended sentence.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man (21) has not come to garda attention since 2015 cocaine bust. Charges or matters: possession of the drugs worth €142,761 at Foxhill Park, Donaghmede on June 3, 2015. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- June 3, 2015 Incident
- May 2017 Other
- 2019-03-25 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possession of the drugs worth €142,761 at Foxhill Park, Donaghmede on June 3, 2015 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He was very vulnerable," Judge Greally said, after she accepted that Craig had now stabilised and was hoping to get into a training programme. "The Probation Service put him at a very low risk of re-offending", the judge continued, before she added that Craig's circumstances "puts the case into the very narrow category of a fully suspended sentence". At the earlier sentence hearing, the court heard that Craig told gardaí in interview that he had been given the drugs minutes before he was caught with them.
Places mentioned
- Ferrycarrig Park
- Dublin
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Foxhill Park
Topics
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