Crystal Coady jailed for drug possession

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Crystal Coady was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, by Judge Martin Nolan. The suspension was conditional on her keeping the peace and being of good behaviour for two years after her release. The proceedings were reported on 21 October 2019.

Coady pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of drugs for sale or supply at her Bluebell, Dublin address on 24 August 2018.

Gardaí observed Coady leave her house with a pink holdall and hand it over a railing to another woman. The bag was recovered and found to contain about 3kg of heroin and almost half a kilogram of crack cocaine, with an approximate total value of €470,000. In a signed statement handed in during her garda interview, Coady took responsibility for the drugs and said the other woman did not know what the bag contained.

Garda David Moran agreed with defence counsel Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha that Coady was vulnerable, had been used and was at the bottom of the chain. He agreed that she was a cocaine user with a debt and had held the drugs for a criminal gang as a result. Ó Lideadha said Coady did not know the value of the drugs.

Judge Nolan said the case was mitigated by Coady’s guilty plea, her exoneration of the other woman, her being a good and caring mother, and the effect imprisonment would have on her children.