A drug dealer who tried to hide a stash of cocaine down the back of a garda patrol car after he was arrested has been jailed for a total of five years for drug dealing offences in north Cork.
Michael Nixon (34) of Stag Park Avenue, Stag Park, Mitchelstown pleaded guilty to a total of nine separate drug offences on three separate dates at different locations in Mitchelstown.
Nixon pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing cocaine and possessing cocaine for sale or supply at Clonmel Road, Mitchelstown on July 1st, 2023.
He also pleaded guilty to two further charges of possessing cocaine and possessing cocaine for sale or supply at New Square, Mitchelstown on October 22nd, 2023.
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He alsoadmitted possessing both cocaine and cannabis and possessing both cocaine and cannabis for sale or supply at Stag Park Mitchelstown on January 18th, 2025.
He pleaded guilty to possessing benzocaine, a mixing agent for a purpose connected to the commission of a drug trafficking offence at Stag Park on the same day.
Det Garda Cormac Axson of the Cork County Divisional Drugs Unit told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that Nixon was caught with €4,000 worth of cocaine on Clonmel Road in July 1st, 2023.
Gardaí found a bag containing €2,000 worth of cocaine on Nixon and arrested him but they later found another €2,000 worth of cocaine he had stashed down a back seat of the patrol car.
Det Garda Axson said gardaí later caught him selling €200 worth of cocaine to another individual on New Square, Mitchelstown on October 22nd, 2023.
And on the third occasion when gardaí carried out a search of his home, they found €12,000 worth of cocaine and €3,000 worth of cannabis hidden behind a kickboard in the kitchen.
Det Garda Axson said that on that occasion gardaí also found a mixing agent, benzocaine and a weighing scales which suggested that Nixon was operating a sophisticated dealing operation.
However, when gardaí arrived at the house in Stag Park, Nixon snapped his phone in two and threw it into the fire, completely destroying it and making it impossible to recover any data.
He acknowledged that Nixon had a drug addiction, and it was against that backdrop that he was dealing but he said that Nixon was “one of our top drug dealing targets in Mitchelstown.”
Det Garda Axson said that Nixon had a total of 39 previous convictions including 13 for drugs possession, three for drug dealing and three for obstructing gardaí in the course of their duty.
He said that Nixon continued drug dealing after he was caught and knew he was caught and the last offence occurred while he was on bail for another offence.
Defence barrister Alan O’Dwyer pleaded for leniency pointing out that Nixon had spared the state a trial by entering a guilty plea to all nine offences with which he had been charged.
He said his client’s previous 39 convictions coincided with drug addiction difficulties and he pointed to a seven-year period when Nixon was drug free and did not commit any crime.
Mr O’Dwyer said that seven year period indicated Nixon was capable of rehabilitating himself and he asked Judge Dermot Sheehan to structure a sentence to incentivise his rehabilitation.
Judge Sheehan described Nixon as “an active drug dealer who was on bail for other drugs offences when he was caught with a sophisticated drug-dealing operation in January this year.”
However he noted that Nixon had pleaded guilty to all nine charges which was a mitigating factor and said that he believed the appropriate sentence was one of six years.
But he said he would suspend the final 12 months on condition Nixon be of good behaviour on his release from jail and remain under the supervision of the Probation Service.
