A father's plea to Judge Kieran O'Connor in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday saved his son from a higher sentence than the eight years imposed.
Leslie Rowan's father impressed him greatly, Judge O'Connor said in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. "I believe every word your father told me and that is why I'm not going to jail you for 10 years which your offences normally merit".
Rowan (20), of St Mark's Crescent, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to two charges of having heroin and cocaine for supply and to the theft of clothes and cosmetics valued at £8,000 from a Kildare pharmacy. The offences occurred on dates in August and October 1996.
The defendant's father said his son had scored three honours and four passes in his Leaving Certificate. But as a teenager he was always dabbling in drugs. He then began to knock around in a bad crowd. He had imposed strict nightly curfews on his son and at one stage kept him in the house for a week.
Mr Michael O'Higgins, defending, thanked Judge O'Connor. His client had accepted he was going to get a severe sentence.