A court has been told that a man caught with €1,000 worth of cocaine was “operating on a low level in a one-man operation but drug dealing nevertheless”. Ben Murtagh, St Patrick’s Terrace, Navan appeared at Navan District Court charged with drug possession on 5th December 2023.
The court was told that Gardai searched defendant’s house and found the cocaine, a weighing scales and baffling equipment. He had no convictions at the time. Defending barrister James O’Brien said his client was someone who hadn’t come to Garda attention since 2023.
He accepted it was a very serious matter but he had been nothing but co-operative with the investigating Garda Shine.
Judge Eirinn McKiernan said “I have a very strong view on this. It is a very serious matter. Selling drugs is perhaps one of the most serious crimes.” She sentenced defendant to two months imprisonment.
