A drug addict who tried to swallow heroin while in Garda custody was jailed for four years yesterday. Gerard Kane (21), of Barrett Street, Dun Laoghaire, admitted having four grammes of heroin, valued at £1,350, at Loughlinstown Drive on April 23rd, 1997.
Judge Cyril Kelly said: "The accused's attempt to transfer items he had taken from his anal passage to his mouth shows the way drugs remove inhibition, whether by way of crime or antisocial behaviour."
Kane had been arrested when found brandishing a baseball bat and a syringe in the women's toilet of a Co Dublin pub, Garda Denis Mulligan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He is already serving a six-year sentence imposed in December for aggravated burglary and has had 10 other convictions for larceny.
Garda Mulligan said Kane admitted when arrested that he had heroin "in his person" but he was not going to take it out. Later while being interviewed he took the drugs from his "interior" and tried to swallow the package.
Gardai retrieved the bag after a struggle. Kane said he had bought the drugs for himself and his girlfriend for £350.
Judge Kelly said Kane's father had left the family home, leaving his wife to raise her sons. This was only one of a large number of cases which indicated to the court that parental separation and abandonment could lead to dysfunctional behaviour.
"She attempted to support her sons but found it impossible to set boundaries for them. When they started taking drugs, she had no hope," he said.
"Certainly, the negation by parents of their responsibilities by walking away seems to be on the increase and is a pertinent factor in a large number of cases coming before the court."