A young unemployed woman from Dublin's inner city who lived in luxury has been jailed for six years for drug-dealing. Louise Byrne (23), a mother of two, owned a car worth £6,000 which she paid for in cash, lived with her partner in a suburban house which had a marble-tiled jacuzzi, state-of-the art electrical equipment and mahogany fittings.
She admitted making at least £1,440 profit a week from selling heroin and to have made £17,580 over three months.
Det Garda Angela Willis agreed with Mr Niall Durnin, defending, that Byrne's partner was older and "well-known" to gardai. Byrne had a heroin addiction.
Judge Cyril Kelly said Byrne had all the trappings of a professional young woman with a successful career. But she had never worked and had never been trained for any gainful work. He could only assume she earned her money from drug-dealing. Judge Kelly said the court did not differentiate between male and female drug dealers. He had no option but to jail her. He refused leave to appeal against severity of sentence.
Byrne, from Gardiner Street flats, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having heroin worth about £1,500 for supply on August 14th, 1996.
Det Garda Willis told Ms Una McGurk, prosecuting, she was driving an unmarked patrol car when she saw Byrne and her partner in a car in Gardiner Street. She had confidential information there were drugs in the car and when she approached it, Byrne threw some plastic bags on to the street. These contained batches of heroin for street deals. Byrne took full responsibility for it.
The Walkinstown house Byrne shared with this man was searched and drug-dealing items were found. Byrne had two previous convictions as a child, the last for larceny when she was 13. At earlier hearings, Judge Kelly was told Byrne was undergoing heroin-blocking treatment with a drug called Naltrexone in an English hospital. This drug could be taken orally or could be implanted under local anaesthetic and follow-up medication was also required.
Mr Durnin said he believed the London treatment project was "a dead horse" as far as his client was concerned. He felt it was not suitable for a person with a heroin habit and was aimed more at affluent middle-class people. He was not satisfied with the follow-up procedures either.
Mr Durnin said Byrne would have been better off submitting herself from the start to Trinity House and eventually a centre like Coolmine.
Judge Kelly commended Mr Durnin for his approach to the case. He had come to the same conclusion about the implant treatment the more he read about it.