A convicted killer who flew to England to buy heroin worth €90,000 has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Desmond Hogan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Abraham Turner was arrested at his home at Cherry Grove, Walkinstown, when gardaí raided the house on foot of confidential information. A large quantity of heroin was found on the kitchen table and a number of heroin wraps were found in the house.
Detective Garda Frank O'Neill told the court that Turner, a chronic heroin addict, travelled with a courier to England where the drugs were purchased and imported back.
He initially denied any knowledge of the drugs because a number of people lived in the house but eventually accepted responsibility. He said he didn't anticipate making a profit from the drugs but intended to keep some for personal use and sell the rest to cover his expenses.
Turner (37) pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of the heroin for sale or supply on January 3rd, 2003. He has over 30 previous convictions and was jailed for five years in 1985, when he was a teenager, for stabbing a man to death in Dolphin's Barn.
Judge Hogan suspended the last two years of Turner's sentence because of his heroin addiction but added that because of the significant value of the drugs, he didn't accept the explanation that Turner didn't expect to make any money.
The judge adjourned the case for mention until November 3rd for certain documentation to be prepared following an application by the prosecution for a confiscation order in relation to assets belonging to Turner.
An affidavit from a detective garda from the National Drugs Squad, which was read to the court in 1998, said that Turner had never been in gainful employment during the years that gardaí had known him.