Wicklow man who held drugs to protect stepson avoids jail after court hears of gang intimidation
The Wicklow PeopleA Bray man who got involved in drug dealing to help pay his stepson’s drug debt has avoided a custodial sentence after a court heard his family came under severe intimidation from a criminal gang.
Zukauskas Linas (47), with an address in Bray, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court to possession of drugs for the purpose of sale or supply.
The court heard from Detective Mark Colgan that in June 2024, gardaí searched Mr Linas’s business premises, where they uncovered drugs and €16,500 in cash, found in various denominations.
Det Colgan told the court that the defendant took ownership of everything seized at the auto-body premises. A set of scales was also found on the property, which Mr Linas claimed was used for weighing dirt-bike pistons.
Counsel for the defence, Paul Murray SC, instructed by Brendan Maloney Solicitors, told the court that his client is a full-time mechanic who was fully cooperative with gardaí. He said Mr Linas became involved in drug activity after his stepson, Jamie Gray, had accrued a severe drug debt.
Mr Gray, of Hazelwood, Fassaroe, Bray, Co Wicklow, is well known to gardaí and previously appeared before the Special Criminal Court in connection with organised crime activity. In 2023, he pleaded guilty alongside convicted murderer Robert “Roo” Redmond to possession of a PAK PM-63 sub-machine gun, discovered in a vehicle on the M11 at Shankill in May 2020.
He has more than 90 previous convictions and was described by his defence as struggling with addiction and gambling issues at the time of the offence.
The court heard that Mr Linas “apologises to his adopted country” He came to Ireland in the early 2000s, met Mr Gray’s mother, and raised her four children as his own, they also have one child together.
Mr Linas’s wife told the court that it was her fault for persuading him not to go to gardaí after the family came under drug intimidation. She said her family had been placed under extreme pressure, with windows smashed, a car damaged, and perspex fitted due to repeated attacks on their home.
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The court also heard that when Mr Gray’s partner was intimidated by members of an unknown organised crime gang “it was the straw that broke the camel’s back”.
When sentencing, Judge Patrick Quinn noted the early plea of guilt and the circumstances that led to Mr Linas’s offending.
He imposed a sentence of two years and eight months’ imprisonment, but suspended the sentence in full for 18 months.
Judge Quinn said: “I am concerned that you engaged with these evil people and showed a lack of confidence in the system,” but added, “with the harrowing evidence I will suspend the sentence in full.”