A woman in whose rented house one of Ireland's leading drug dealers had cocaine valued €2 million has been given a two-year jail sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Sandie Casserly (33), a chef and a mother of two, Buirg an Rí Terrace, Balgaddy Road, Lucan, pleaded guilty to allowing her premises to be used for processing cocaine on May 13th, 2004.
Judge Michael White suspended the final year of the sentence in view of her previous good character, Garda evidence that she possibly was not aware of the extent of the drugs operation, and the effect jailing her would have on her children.
However, he said, it was surprising in view of her previous good character and the testimonials received by the court that she was not able to materially assist gardaí more in their investigation.
The judge noted that Casserly had told gardaí she did not give keys to anybody else but could not explain how a man came to be in possession of a key for the house.
Det Garda Enda Mulryan said an operation set up by Det Supt Dominic Hayes to target "one of the main drug dealers" in the State led to surveillance on Casserly's premises, which she had rented from South Dublin County Council two months earlier.
Det Mulryan of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation told Patrick McGrath, prosecuting, that a man was seen being given a blue backpack by another man who had left the house. The backpack contained 5kg of cocaine when the carrier was arrested.
Gardaí searched the premises and uncovered 3kg of cocaine in one room and 8kg of uncut cocaine in another room. Scales, gloves, a compressor, a mixing agent and other articles used in processing the drug for sale were also recovered. The total value of the cocaine was €2 million.
Casserly was arrested after she called to Lucan Garda station when her sister told her gardaí had been to the house. She said she had not been there for some days before the Garda raid and when "a certain name" was mentioned to her, she referred to a former boyfriend.
Det Mulryan said Casserly could not explain how the man seen leaving the house and handing over the backpack had keys for the premises.
Det Mulryan agreed with Aileen Donnelly SC, defending, that he believed Casserly was not aware of the extent of the drugs operation, that she had no previous convictions and was the mother of two daughters, aged 12 and eight years.
Ms Donnelly submitted testimonials for Casserly including a letter signed by all her 53 colleagues at B&Q, where she worked as a chef.
She added that Casserly had some health problems and that she was also looking after her ailing mother.