Father-of-four jailed for storing almost €100,000 worth of cocaine at his home

A 40-year-old father of four has been jailed for four years for storing almost €100,000 worth of cocaine in his home and shed, reports Natasha Reid.

Paul Dardis, with an address at Westpark in Tallaght, was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, charged with possession of drugs for sale or supply at his home on November 18, 2022.

Garda Michael Leahy told the court that gardai carried out a planned search of Dardis’s home that day and found a total of €99,169 worth of cocaine at various locations, including his kitchen and bedroom.

Most of it was seized from a garden shed, along with mixing agents and €64 worth of heroin. Weighing scales were also found.

Dardis later took full responsibility for all drugs found in his home.

He said he was storing the cocaine in exchange for a reduction in his own personal drug debt.

Gda Leahy agreed with Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, defending, that both Dardis and his partner had mental health difficulties.

He said that Dardis showed no signs of wealth and had not come to garda attention since.

Counsel explained that his client had been a hardworking man, who had worked two jobs, but that his addiction to cocaine had escalated after his father died seven or eight years ago.

“His instructions are he got on top of that. He managed to stop a year after the offence,” he said.

He handed in a number of letters on behalf of his client, including from his partner and mother of three of his children, who described him as a good man and father, detailing the support he provided when she suffered with postnatal depression.

She said she did not know how she’d manage without his help.

He wiped tears from his eyes as counsel read his sister’s letter in which the single mother described him as a good uncle to her children, taking her son to football.

His mother wrote of him taking over as ‘the man of the house’ after his father’s death, and that he was suicidal until recently.

Mr O Lideadha said that he had made a very significant contribution to his children’s and extended family’s lives and had a good work history.

“He wasn’t the profit taker, but was paying off his drug debt,” he added.

“There are many positives,” he said. “I’m asking the court to be as lenient as possible.”

Judge Orla Crowe imposed a sentence of five years on Dardis and suspended the final 12 months.