Jonathan Diggins jailed for importing ketamine at Dublin Airport

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

Jonathan Diggins was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 31 July 2024. Judge Orla Crowe backdated the sentence to 28 November 2023, when he went into custody.

Diggins pleaded guilty to one count of importing drugs at Dublin Airport. The charge concerned importation on 6 November 2023. The proceedings were reported on 31 July 2024.

The court heard that Diggins had travelled from Brussels to San Francisco via Dublin when his suitcase missed a connecting flight. Prosecuting counsel Jane Horgan-Jones BL said US clearance officers found seven packs of ketamine worth €330,000 in a false bottom in the suitcase. Diggins was arrested at Dublin Airport a few weeks later when he returned to look for it.

James Dwyer SC, defending, said Diggins had no intention of importing the drugs into Ireland and that they were in transit from Belgium to the United States. He said Diggins nevertheless pleaded guilty and cooperated fully with the investigation. Judge Crowe said Diggins had imported drugs into Ireland even if that was not his intention.

The judge treated the value of the drugs and Diggins’s return to retrieve the suitcase as aggravating factors. She also considered mitigating features and his personal circumstances, giving him extra credit for the difficulty of maintaining contact with his family overseas. The court heard that he had no previous convictions.