Philip Douglas sentenced for cocaine possession in Dublin

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

Philip Douglas was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four and a half years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended. Judge Cormac Quinn made the suspension conditional on Douglas engaging with addiction treatment services.

Douglas pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply at his Firhouse address and at an address in Saggart. The offences related to 10 October 2017.

Garda Sergeant Sarah Donaghy told the court that gardaí found cocaine, bulking agent, weighing scales, a hydraulic press and large blocks of white powder at the Saggart house. Douglas’s car was at the house and he had a key to it when arrested. Three bags of MDMA were found at his home; the total value of all the drugs discovered was €122,340.

Douglas told gardaí he had pressed and wrapped cocaine on instructions and delivered it to certain people. He said he did so to pay off a debt arising from his own cocaine use.

Judge Quinn described the operation as sophisticated but said Douglas was neither at its top level nor the person who set it up. He noted that Douglas was drug free and accepted that he had been under fear or threat.

Defence counsel Garnet Orange SC said the owners of the drugs were directing the operation and that the person left holding the drugs had no control over their type or quantity. He said Douglas was ashamed of his actions.