Courts / Sligo / Report
'Scourge' of Sligo gets 11 years for directing organised crime
Summary
Barry Young, aged 38, has been sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment at the Special Criminal Court for directing a criminal organisation. Mr Justice Tony Hunt imposed the custodial term following Young's guilty plea to the charge, which carried a maximum of sixteen years. The judge described Young's activities as a "scourge" on the Sligo community over several years, though acknowledged his gang was smaller in scope than other organised crime groups. Young operated a drug distribution network with hierarchical command structures involving at least twenty members across the northwest. Gardaí seized over €628,000 in drugs linked to the gang and €40,000 in cash from Young's accounts, despite his stated income being social welfare payments. The investigation, initiated following Young's arrest at Dublin Airport in January this year whilst attempting to travel to Spain, uncovered thousands of communications detailing drug sales, debt enforcement involving intimidation, and cash movements. Young's sentence was reduced to twelve years to reflect his early guilty plea and mitigating circumstances.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'Scourge' of Sligo gets 11 years for directing organised crime. Charges or matters: the charge of directing a criminal organisation. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- October 4, 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 15, 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 11 Incident
- October 2019 Other
- January 2020 Other
- January 2022 Incident
- April 2019 Other
- 2023-07-31 Publication
Why: Mr Bowman said his client described the day of his arrest as a "happy day" and that Young had thanked gardai for catching him because "every day he was trying to find peace with what he has done". CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: the charge of directing a criminal organisation (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Mr Justice Hunt set the headline sentence at 16 years but due to mitigating factors, including Young's early guilty plea, he reduced that to 12 years. Following the sentence, Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken told media gathered outside court that "Barry Young has been involved in the sale and distribution of controlled drugs for the last 20 years. "He directed and controlled a very large organised crime gang involved in an illegal business in the northwest of the country and this gang had substantial international links. "In the pursuit of greed and in the pursuit of money, this organised crime gang has caused much harm, much stress, much destruction to society and families through their reckless nature. "Many of those families have suffer
Places mentioned
Topics
Related court reports
- Courier who claimed pay unlawfully docked over garage door mishap wins wages back
- Doctor gets 10 years for rape, control and assaults on wife
- Judge rejects Gill's arguments against extradition for Robbie Lawlor murder
- Trial of garda accused of rape and child cruelty in closing stages
- Sligo man Barry Young wanted in NI for gangland murder of Robbie Lawlor
- Robbie Lawlor murder accused argues UK trial would breach his rights
If a fact, identity, locality or legal outcome needs review, email the newsroom with this report's details prefilled.
Email a correction request