Judge suspends drug sentence

A man who ran away with a canister of cocaine from a car driven by a drug dealer has been given a 7 1/2-year suspended sentence…

A man who ran away with a canister of cocaine from a car driven by a drug dealer has been given a 7 1/2-year suspended sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The drug dealer was not charged in connection with the incident, Garda David Connolly told Judge Cyril Kelly. The cocaine was 72 per cent pure with a street value of about £3,000.

Anthony Stapleton (30), a father of two children, of Carrigwood, Firhouse, Dublin, pleaded guilty last year to having 28 grams of cocaine on May 19th, 1995, for supply.

Mr Luigi Rea, defending, told Judge Cyril Kelly that Stapleton had now dealt with his addiction.