Louth man caught with drugs while on bail for smashing up car owned by his ex-partner’s new boyfriend
A 31-year-old man who used a rock and his son’s scooter to smash up a car owned by his ex-partner’s new boyfriend and separately admitted drug dealing while on bail for the other offence has been jailed for four years.
Keith Shelbourne signed a guilty plea to a charge of criminal damage at Ellwood, Ballymakenny Road, Drogheda, on October 29, 2023.
The defendant, of Avenue One, Yellowbatter, Drogheda, also admitted three counts of possession of drugs for sale or supply after gardaí found three different types of drugs in his bedroom on October 10, 2024.
At an adjourned sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court, evidence was presented that he only gave three clear urine samples out of six since last January’s court appearance. The other three were positive for cocaine.
A probation officer reported that Mr Shelbourne, who has no previous convictions, had an ambivalent attitude to drug treatment options and had shown a reluctance for residential treatment.
Judge Dara Hayes was told that the car he targeted, a €25,500 2017 Audi A5, was written off by insurers. He handed over €10,000 compensation.
The defendant and his partner of ten years, with whom he has a child, had broken up.
On this occasion he turned up at a house in the early hours of the morning after seeing her in the car with someone else.
He began kicking the Audi and shouted for the other man to come outside.
The defendant hit the vehicle with a rock, smashing its windows. He used his son’s scooter to smash the rest of the windows and break off the wing mirrors.
All the while the victim was videoing the incident which was reported to Gardaí at 1.05am.
A garda agreed with counsel that this occurred “in a fit of rage”. There was no indication of any violence in the defendant’s relationship with the women, while the two men were not known to each other and had no further contact. The compensation was accepted.
Mr Shelbourne wrote a letter of apology. He is a full-time carer for his mother and in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
Regarding the subsequent matter, Det Gda Dean Hyland said that when the house in Yellowbatter was searched, 131g ketamine (valued €7,877), 484g cannabis (€9,682) and 15g cocaine (€1,090) were found in the defendant’s bedroom.
He held his hands up, telling officers that he bought the ketamine for €500 to share among friends, using a weighing scale and bags "to dish it around”.
There was evidence of drug dealing on his phone.
Mr Shelbourne hadn’t fully engaged with the Probation Service, and gardaí were concerned that he continued to associate with certain individuals.
His defence counsel said that he had “patchy engagement” at best. A probation report was not positive.
He had been in contact with The Red Door Project with whom he did the urinalysis.
The defendant’s mother and sister had given him loans for most of the compensation.
Judge Hayes noted the probation officer’s concern for Mr Shelbourne’s inability to accept that the relationship was over and that he was unable to contain his anger.
The judge remarked that he had taken no substantive steps.
He had a significant quantity of drugs, €18,650 in total. The court spoke of the deleterious effects of drugs on his own community in Drogheda.
An 18-month sentence was imposed on the criminal damage charge, consecutive to concurrent three-and-a-half year terms for the Section 15 drugs charges, a total of 5 years.
The final 12 months were conditionally suspended.