Gardai find €300 worth of cocaine in Kinder egg
GARDAI found €300 worth of cocaine in a Kinder egg after a Clondalkin man threw it into the back of a car he was in and ran away.
Scott Purdue admitted a drug sale or supply charge, as well as having no insurance or licence in other incidents.
Blanchardstown District Court
He was given concurrent sentences totalling five months and a 10-year driving ban when he appeared in Blanchardstown District Court.
Purdue, aged 23, with a former address at Shancastle Park, Clondalkin pleaded guilty to the offences, which all happened at Shancastle Park in 2019.
Garda Lee Keenan told Judge Gerard Jones he stopped the accused driving a Citroen Berlingo van on October 10, 2019. Purdue was arrested and brought to Lucan Garda Station.
John Shanley solicitor, defending, said his client had reversed out of the driveway, parked the car up and left the engine running to heat the car.
On October 29, 2019, Garda Keenan said, he saw Purdue entering a blue Ford Focus also at Shancastle Park. When he noticed gardai, the accused was seen to throw a yellow object over his shoulder.
He “swiftly exited” the car and left the area but Garda Keenan discovered a Kinder egg in the rear of the car, containing cocaine with a value of €300.
Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said on December 9, 2019, Purdue was found in the driver’s seat of an Audi A3. The car’s engine was running and it was parked across the footpath, she said.
Purdue tried to hide the car keys by throwing them into a green area and admitted an obstruction charge arising from this.
The accused had 96 previous convictions for offences including driving without insurance, assault and possession of drugs. He had already been given a six-year driving ban at the time of the 2019 incidents.
Mr Shanley said Purdue had been running the car engine to keep himself warm but accepted he had control of the car.
Purdue was already serving another sentence when he appeared in court.
He had been the victim of “significant crimes” in the past, Mr Shanley said, as a result of which he was unable to dress himself and relied on the help of other inmates.
He had problems with his sight and was finding prison more difficult than the average person.
Judge Jones made the five months concurrent to Purdue’s existing sentence.
