Courts / Dublin / Report

No jail for drug dealer found asleep on stash beside playground

Date
2020-02-17

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Lucan

County
Dublin

Summary

Damien Gray, 36, was found asleep beside a playground in Hermitage Park, Lucan, where officers discovered a Kleenex packet containing €5,700 worth of heroin in individual street deals and later a quantity of crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and cocaine for sale or supply at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 31 May 2017. With 12 prior convictions, including three drug offences, Judge Cormac Quinn sentenced him to two years imprisonment but suspended the sentence in full on strict conditions, requiring compliance with Probation Service directions for 12 months. Gray admitted acquiring the drugs three or four days earlier to fund his living and claimed he owed €500 to a friend. He stated he had been smoking heroin for two weeks and feared trouble after the drugs were seized. Garda Ronan Culligan noted that Gray's home was broken into and he was attacked with a machete, leaving scars.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: No jail for drug dealer found asleep on stash beside playground. Charges or matters: possession of heroin and cocaine for sale or supply on May 31, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

May 31, 2017 Incident
2020-02-17 Publication

Why: Gray admitted that he got the drugs three or four days previously and that he was selling them because he needed money to live. CNI source report

Case subjects

Damien Gray

Defendant

Charges: possession of heroin and cocaine for sale or supply on May 31, 2017 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Passing sentence today, Judge Cormac Quinn noted that Gray is now drug free and has not come to adverse garda attention since this offence. Judge Quinn sentenced Gray to two years imprisonment, but he suspended the sentence in full on strict conditions including that he follow all directions of the Probation Service for 12 months.