A DRUG dealer has been jailed for four years after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he had lived in "good circumstances" despite being unemployed.
Gerard Kavanagh (25) started smoking heroin and taking ecstasy at raves before being recruited as a drug courier.
Months later he realised he was developing a dangerous dependency and he stopped using drugs. However, he continued as a courier and made hundreds of pounds a week, said his counsel, Mr Michael O'Higgins.
Judge Gerard Buchanan said the law clearly distinguished between drug dependency and having drugs for sale or supply. Kavanagh had stopped abusing drugs but he was involved in the chain of drug distribution headed by drug barons. Unfortunately, these barons were rarely seen in court.
Kavanagh, married with one child, of Mayberry Park, Dublin, pleaded guilty to having cannabis and heroin for supply on March 21st, 1994. The drugs were valued at £3,500.
Garda Gary Corrigan said he was in a Sundrive Road station patrol car with Garda Eamonn Molony and Garda Mark McConnell. They saw a group of 18 to 20 year olds standing at the gate of Brickfield Park in Crumlin. Through confidential information they were aware drugs were peddled there.
They saw a white van drive towards the youths and flash its headlights. When the squad car was positioned in front of the van, Kavanagh ran from it and threw two packages into bushes.
Garda Corrigan said as he chased Kavanagh, he saw him trying to remove something else from his pocket. When he caught him, he discovered Kavanagh had been trying to get rid of two small bags. These bags contained 32 street deals of heroin, then worth £30 to £40 each. A total of 129 deals of cannabis, worth £10 each, were recovered from the bushes. Kavanagh also had in £1,970 cash in his pocket.
The white van was later searched by Garda dogs and 54 grammes of cannabis was found. The haul was enough for, 48 deals.
Garda Corrigan told Mr Eamonn Leahy, prosecuting, that, Kavanagh had been unemployed for some time before his arrest but appeared to live in "good circumstances". He had no previous convictions.
In reply to Mr O'Higgins, the garda said he was not aware Kavanagh had worked for a roofing contractor for four years before becoming unemployed or, that he was working with that firm again.
Mr O'Higgins said Kavanagh had been honest with his probation officer. He was asking the court to temper his sentence with mercy so he could put drugs be, hind him and get on with his life when released.
After sentence, Judge Buchanan ordered the forfeiture of the money and the van and the destruction of the drugs.