Louth man jailed for four years after drugs found in neighbour’s coal shed

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

A father of five caught with €25,000 drugs, less than a year after a €47,000 drugs seizure in a coal shed, has been jailed for four years.

Mark Campbell (41), Woodbury Gardens, Tom Bellew Avenue, Dundalk, at the time, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the two incidents in 2016 and 2017.

A circuit court sentence hearing was told that he was linked to the first haul after his fingerprints were taken following his arrest for the second.

Evidence was given that on May 26, 2016, a search took place at the home of a woman who was being cared for by a relative of the accused.

Gardaí found cannabis in a Nike bag in a coal shed, along with 7 further packs of the drug among the coal.

Fingerprints were taken from plastic wrappings. The drugs seized had a market value of €47,120.

Mr Campbell admitted a charge of possession of drugs for sale or supply with a value of €13,000 or more.

He also admitted three counts of possession for sale or supply in respect of cannabis and MDMA following the second incident.

On January 30, 2017, gardaí searched a car which had been abandoned for a number of days off Tom Bellew Avenue in Dundalk. The vehicle was obstructing traffic and pedestrians.

Cannabis worth almost €20,000 was found found under the bonnet.

Items discovered in the vehicle were connected to Mr Campbell's home where another car was searched three days later. This revealed MDMA and more cannabis, valued €2,900 and €2,646 respectively, making the total haul €25,530.

The defendant was arrested on January 4, 2019.

He had not come to recent Garda attention and was assessed by the Probation Service at moderate risk of re-offending, and willing to address the risk factors.

Three urinalysis from January of this year were negative for all substances.

His last employment was 2 years ago.

Judge Dara Hayes remarked that a significant quantity of drugs was involved. It was serious repeat offending which had a deleterious impact on local communities.

The defendant had taken advantage of a vulnerable neighbour.

"He brought that trouble to her door,” the judge continued.

A total of 6 years and 6 months imprisonment was imposed, the final two-and-a-half years conditionally suspended.

A destruction order was made for the drugs.