Gardai find €19k worth of drugs in mans family home
By Declan Brennan
A man with no previous convictions has avoided a prison sentence after gardai found around €19,000 worth of cocaine and heroin stored in his family home.
Brandon Giltrap (21) of Moorefield Avenue, Clondalkin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession for sale or supply of cocaine with an estimated street value of €16,000.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
He also admitted possession for sale or supply of €1,633 worth of heroin. Finally, he pleaded guilty to the possession of €8,039 which was the proceeds of crime, under the Money Laundering Act 2010.
The prosecution followed a garda search of the family home in Clondalkin on November 8, 2018. Gardai found the cash as well as weighing scales, mixing agents and bagging material.
Anne Rowland SC, defending, said that the death of her client’s mother when he was 12 was difficult for him. The court heard that some of the money his mother left him went to feeding Giltrap’s later drug use.
Counsel said Giltrap built up a drug debt and was put under pressure to hold the drugs.
“He was being used. He was under orders to dispatch the drugs in large quantities,” Ms Rowland said. She said his father has since cleared the drug debt of €20,000.
Judge Pauline Codd said there had to be a clear message of deterrence for drug dealing “because of the evils caused” by drugs in the community.
She noted this was Giltrap’s first offence and said there was evidence before the court that he had a drug addiction.
Judge Codd set a headline sentence of six years before taking any mitigating factors into consideration. She noted these as Giltrap’s youth and his lack of previous convictions.
She said that there were very serious consequences for young people who become involved in the “murky, sinister” world of drug dealing.
The judge suspended a prison term of four and a half years on condition he engage with the Probation Services for that period.
She noted the Probation Service have assessed him as being at a low risk of re-offending. Judge Codd also noted evidence that Giltrap is now free of drug use and “has turned his life around”.
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