Dean Smith jailed for cannabis possession in Tallaght

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

Dean Smith, 30, of Killinarden Heights, Tallaght, Dublin, was jailed for three and a half years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He pleaded guilty to possessing 19kg of cannabis at his home on 11 November 2021. The proceedings were reported on 9 April 2024.

The investigating garda said a search of Smith’s home found cannabis under a child’s bed and in a drawer in the same room. Smith confirmed that his son slept there and said the drugs were his and that he had placed them under the bed. The cannabis was valued at almost €360,000.

It was accepted that Smith co-operated fully with the Garda investigation and that nothing in his lifestyle suggested he was benefiting from selling or supplying drugs. The garda agreed with defence counsel Garnet Orange SC that Smith had accumulated a drug debt because of his cocaine addiction. The garda also accepted counsel’s suggestion that this left Smith feeling he had no choice but to take what was given to him.

Mr Orange said Smith had made significant efforts to rehabilitate, cared for his children while his wife worked and helped care for his father. He said Smith was a warehouse man and did not control the quantity of drugs delivered to him.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted Smith’s co-operation and early guilty plea as strong mitigation, along with evidence of his family responsibilities. The judge said Smith had a lesser involvement but was a mature man who had involved himself in the criminal enterprise. Smith had a previous district court conviction for a separate drug offence.