A nightclub disc jockey from Singapore, illegally resident in Ireland, has been jailed for five years for dealing in cocaine.
"If this offence had happened in your home in Singapore you could have faced the ultimate sanction of execution," Judge Cyril Kelly told Alfred Alphonsus at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Alphonsus had some of the cocaine in a fridge at Shafts Disco in Ely Place, and more in his nearby flat at Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin, when it was searched by gardai on February 2nd, 1996. He had 12 deals worth just under £1,000 and £1,180 in cash.
Det Sgt George Kyne said the Department of Justice had confirmed Alphonsus was an illegal alien. He came to Ireland 10 years ago from Singapore and had no previous convictions.
Det Sgt Kyne told Mr Adrian Mannering, prosecuting, he went with a search warrant to Shafts as a result of confidential information. He first searched around the DJ's booth area and arrested Alphonsus, who made a long statement.
Replying to Judge Kelly who inquired about the use of cocaine, Det Sgt Kyne said abusers were now using it with heroin and he had had one such case last weekend.
While it might have had a middle class image previously, that could be changing. Det Sgt Kyne said he accepted it was an addictive drug. Alphonsus had been dealing in it to feed his own habit.
Judge Kelly commented on "the dual morality" of the middle classes, who spent their money on cocaine and were the first to run to the gardai for help when their mobile phones were stolen.
"These bright intelligent middle class people from the fashionable, leafy suburbs can do one thing, but when poorer people from the barren wastelands do the same thing, they are branded for life", said Judge Kelly.
Det Sgt Kyne agreed with Mr Luigi Rea, defending, that Alphonsus had lost his DJ job in Shafts as a result of this matter. He was now a restaurant manager.
Mr Rea said his client would find a jail sentence much harder to bear because he was a foreigner. Alphonsus was involved with the drug at the time due to his habit. He had since stopped abusing drugs.