A convicted killer who flew to England to buy heroin worth €90,000 has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Desmond Hogan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Abraham Turner, Cherry Grove, Walkinstown, was arrested at his home when gardaí raided the house on foot of confidential information. A large quantity of heroin was found on the kitchen table, and a number of heroin wraps were found throughout the house.
The court heard that Turner travelled with a courier to England where the drugs were purchased.
He initially denied any knowledge of the drug because a number of people lived in the house. However, he eventually accepted responsibility. He said he didn't anticipate making a profit from it but intended to keep some for personal use and sell the rest to cover his expenses.
Turner (37) pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of the heroin for sale or supply on January 3rd, 2003. He has more than 30 previous convictions and was jailed for five years in 1985, when he was a teenager, for stabbing a man to death in Dolphin's Barn.
Judge Hogan suspended the last two years of Turner's sentence because of his heroin addiction but added that, because of the significant value of the drugs, he didn't accept the explanation that Turner didn't expect to make any money.
Turner failed to turn up for sentence on May 25th, and a bench warrant was issued. Gardaí arrested him four days later.
Judge Hogan adjourned the case for mention until November 3rd to allow certain documents to be prepared, following an application by the prosecution for a confiscation order over assets belonging to Turner.
In 1998 the Criminal Assets Bureau secured a High Court order preventing Turner and his father, Barry Turner, from dealing with the house in Walkinstown and a Honda Civic car.
The CAB believed that the house, which featured a gym and a jacuzzi, and the car constituted the proceeds of crime and particularly the sale and supply of controlled drugs.
The High Court also heard at the time that Turner had three bank accounts in his own name, and about £212,000, mostly in cash, had been lodged between 1992 and 1997. About £83,000 was lodged over seven years in accounts in Barry Turner's name.
An affidavit from a detective garda from the National Drugs Squad, which was read to the court in 1998, said that Turner had never been in gainful employment during the years that gardaí had known him.