A father of two who acted as a coach for a local football team has been sentenced to 10 years in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after he was caught with €17,559 worth of cannabis resin
Bernard White (33), Clonshaugh Close, Clonshaugh, Dublin, pleaded guilty to having the drugs for sale or supply at his home on May 4th, 2005.
Judge Thomas Teehan accepted White "was a relatively minor cog in the operation" and suspended the last five years of the sentence.
He said White committed the offence in "an area that was scourged with drugs", a fact that he would be aware of being a father of two children.
Garda Eric Godfrey told Bernard Condon, prosecuting, that White told gardaí where the drugs were hidden. He refused to say where the drugs came from or who gave them to him. He had no previous convictions and had not come to the attention of gardaí since.
Garda Godfrey agreed with Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that White estimated the drugs were worth €2,000. He accepted that White was too frightened to fully co-operate with gardaí and told them that "life was too short". White had a cocaine addiction but he had started a rehabilitation programme.
Jim Malone told Ms Kennedy that her client worked with him as a glazier for the last five years on an "on-off basis". He described him as a reliable and hard-working employee.
Fr Terry Murray said White was an honest, reliable and trustworthy person. There was no doubt that White regretted his involvement and was fully aware of the damage caused by drugs.
Ms Kennedy told Judge Teehan that White was a football coach for a young football team in the area.