A WESTMEATH "rampant addict" who picked up a van loaded with heroin valued at €1.6 million because of his "drugs debt" has had been jailed for seven years by Judge Katherine Delahunt.
Gerard Matthews (30), Grange Village, Mullingar, told gardaí he was told that €1,000 would be taken off his €25,000 drugs debt when he received a call ordering him to collect the vehicle from a McDonald's car park in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
Sgt Brendan Breen agreed with Mary Ellen Ring SC, defending, that Matthews felt he had no option but to comply with the request and he believed that if he had ignored it there would have been "detrimental consequences".
Matthews pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at the N4 Lucan by-pass in May 2007.
He also admitted to theft of €640 from Centra in Rathmines four days earlier and to producing a knife during the raid.
Judge Delahunt accepted that Matthews's role was transporting the drugs but said he played "an intrinsic role" in the trade. "Those above you would not be able to operate without you."
She accepted that a psychological assessment showed that there were "traumatic aspects" to his background and noted that he had been abusing drugs since he was 13 years old.
Judge Delahunt said she was satisfied that Matthews's case had special and exceptional circumstances so that the presumptive mandatory sentence of 10 years did not apply.