A heroin addict who was caught storing drugs valued at over €400,000 to help pay off his debts to drug dealers has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Robert Lowery (23) owed €7,000 to drug dealers due to drugs lost in a previous case as well as his ongoing drug debts and damage caused to a dealer's car when it was parked outside his house.
Defence counsel Erwan Mill-Arden SC said that when released from prison in 2005 after serving two years' detention for drugs found at his home, Lowery received a punishment beating from the drugs criminals in which his skull was fractured and they also forced him to pay them for the seized cache.
Garda Seán Smith told Judge Delahunt that Lowery was nonetheless "a vital link in the supply of drugs".
Lowery, a father of one, of Shancastle Crescent, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possession of two kilograms of heroin, valued at €411,400, at his home on August 5th, 2006.
Judge Delahunt imposed a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment but ordered a review after five years.
Garda Smith told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn BL that they searched Lowery's home on foot of confidential information and found some heroin in the house and a larger amount in a garden shed.
Lowery, who has three previous drug convictions, told gardaí he had been storing it in the shed for six months in order to pay off some of his debt. Gardaí also found €1,604 in cash.
Garda Smith agreed with Mr Mill-Arden that Lowery had been acting under threat and had an ongoing heroin addiction costing him €50 a day.
Mr Mill-Arden said Lowery started using drugs again after his release from detention in 2005 and began running up a drug debt to the dealers.
His family was also threatened when he tried to stop his house being used as a "safe haven" for the drugs.
Counsel said that on one occasion a car belonging to a drug dealer had been crashed into while it was parked in Lowery's driveway and the cost of repairing the car was added to his debt.
Mr Mill-Arden said Lowery had collected money for the dealer from a buyer on one occasion and this was part of the money found in his house.
Mr Mill-Arden added that Lowery had been abusing drugs since he was 14 and also suffered from diabetes but was now a regular churchgoer.
Lowery was sentenced to the two years' detention in October 2003 by Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of heroin worth €12,000 and cannabis resin worth €8,000 at his home on March 19th, 2002 with intent to sell or supply.
He also admitted to having heroin worth €2,500 in his home on June 7th, 2002 with intent to sell or supply and possession of €50 worth of cannabis resin.
Gardaí in that case said Lowery had been influenced by older, more established criminals in the area.