Peter Cawley and Richard Nolan placed on probation bonds in drugs case

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

Peter Cawley and Richard Nolan were placed on one-year probation bonds by Judge Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 9 February 2023. The judge said she would finalise the matter in February 2024. The proceedings were reported on 9 February 2023.

Cawley pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for sale or supply. Nolan pleaded guilty to three counts of having drugs for sale or supply. The offences occurred in Clondalkin, Dublin, on 19 March 2020.

The court heard that gardaí stopped a van on the night of 19 March 2020. Cawley was driving and Nolan was lying in the back. Garda Conor Dooley said drugs were found in the van. Both men said they had been asked to collect drugs: Cawley said he had been promised €100 worth of cocaine, while Nolan was told he would receive a few days’ worth of heroin.

Cawley told gardaí he did not know he had been given a large shipment of drugs. Dooley agreed with defence counsel that both men had cooperated with gardaí. Nolan apologised, and his counsel said he had a longstanding heroin addiction that worsened after his brother’s death in 2018. Judge Ryan said both men had made full admissions and acted as couriers for a small amount of drugs as payment.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.