Courts

Jail for man who hid cannabis valued at €360,000 in his child’s bedroom

Court hears Dean Smith (30) from Tallaght ran up a drug debt due to his cocaine addiction

The herbal cannabis had an estimated street value of around €360,000, the court heard. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images
The herbal cannabis had an estimated street value of around €360,000, the court heard. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images
Sonya McLean
Tue Apr 09 2024 - 14:46

A man who hid herbal cannabis valued at almost €360,000 under a bed and in a drawer of his son’s bedroom has been jailed for three and half years.

Dean Smith (30) of Killinarden Heights, Tallaght, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 19kg of cannabis at his home on November 11th, 2021. He had a previous conviction from the district court in relation to a separate drug offence.

The investigating garda told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that a warrant was secured to search Smith’s home during which the drugs were found underneath a child’s bed. A further stash of the drugs was found in a drawer in the same room.

The accused confirmed that his son slept in the room. He also said that the drugs were his and he had placed them under his son’s bed.

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It was accepted that Smith co-operated fully with the Garda investigation and there was nothing in his lifestyle to suggest that he was benefitting from the sale or supply of drugs.

The garda agreed with Garnet Orange SC, defending, that his client had run up a drug debt owing to his own cocaine addiction. He further accepted a suggestion from counsel that this led to Smith being put in a position where he found he had no choice but to take what was given to him.

Mr Orange asked Judge Martin Nolan to take into account his client’s admissions to the gardaí.

He said his client has since made “significant efforts” to rehabilitate and took care of his children while his wife worked. He also played a role in caring for his father.

“He is a warehouse man rather than a more significant cog in the entire system,” Mr Orange submitted, before he added that Smith was not in control of the quantity of drugs that would be delivered to him.

Judge Nolan accepted evidence that Smith was well regarded by his family and had a responsibility to his father and children.

He further accepted that there was “good and strong mitigation in the case” in that Smith had co-operated with the Garda investigation and entered an early guilty plea.

Judge Nolan said while Smith had a lesser involvement in the offence, he was “a mature man who had involved himself in this criminal enterprise”, before he imposed a sentence of three and half years.