A former garda has been jailed for three years for a number of offences including dealing cocaine, attempting to frame someone for car theft and insurance fraud.
Stephen Cooper (29), who was a member of the force when the offences took place, also allowed a friend to take the blame when gardaí found the drug LSD during a search at the Electric Picnic music festival.
Cooper, of The Green, Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, Dublin, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at the festival between September 5th, 2009 and September 2nd, 2010 by knowingly allowing Luke Barnett to be wrongfully prosecuted on September 2nd, 2010.
Cooper was also charged with stealing a bag of cannabis herb worth €560 from Sundrive Garda station on May 27th, 2010, but this count was withdrawn by the prosecution.
Last month, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring remanded Cooper in continuing custody and adjourned the matter until today.
At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Ms Justice Ring noted Cooper was a drug addict but that he held a privileged position in society. She said drugs can lead otherwise law-abiding people to commit crimes “and this no doubt applies to An Garda Síochána.”
Before passing sentence, she described Cooper’s actions as a fundamental breach of the role of a garda and noted he had threatened a completely innocent member of the public into making false claims.
In mitigation, she noted he is highly regarded by members of the community and is now drug-free and recently married. She took into account that he has now lost his job and that, as a former garda, prison will be more difficult for him.
Cooper pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice between August 19th, 2010 and October 21st, 2011, when he attempted to get Stephanie Lynch to make a false statement implicating Wayne Finane in the theft of a car.
He also pleaded guilty to deception of Axa Insurance on November 12th, 2010 by making a false insurance claim. Cooper made a false report to gardaí that the canopy of his jeep had been stolen, when in fact it had blown off the car while he was driving along the M50 motorway on September 15th, 2010.
Cooper further pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply at Ormond Quay on January 31st, 2011.
Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, said her client’s offending behaviour stemmed from a long-standing drug addiction problem. She said he is now free of this addiction, has married and has set up his own gym equipment business.