'Significant' cocaine dealer in Mallow area jailed 

A cocaine dealer in the Mallow area was jailed for three and a half years as the sentencing judge described him as significantly involved in the drugs trade.

Aidan Murphy of Crossfield, Ballyclough, Mallow, was sentenced by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Gardaí located drugs concealed in a Tupperware box near the defendant’s home on February 8, 2020.

Officers took up a concealed position to keep this under surveillance having previously seen Aidan Murphy carrying out drug transactions at the gate of his home.

On the day in question, he went to the area where the drugs were concealed.

When gardaí approached him he had the Tupperware container in his hand and he discarded a bag of cocaine. Gardaí recovered this bag of cocaine and found that Murphy also had €800 cash on his person.

Other paraphernalia associated with drug dealing, including weighing scales and a notebook with tick-lists of names, were later found.

Further larger quantities of both cocaine and cash were also found in a search at the house. There was over €8,000 worth of cocaine and €8,000 in cash.

The 49-year-old had two previous convictions for drug dealing. Most recently he got a two-year suspended sentence for the offence in 2014.

Detective Sergeant Mick O’Halloran said, “He did not have addictions – his only reason for involvement in this was purely for monetary gain.” 

Defence barrister, Sinead Behan, said Aidan Murphy had given a large number of clear urine samples since this offence was detected.

Ms Behan outlined details of difficult personal matters the accused man had in the past.

“He had depression and anxiety and is on anti-depressants and is extremely stressed about this. He has been attending counselling. He had straightened himself out after difficulties in 2014 but he fell off the wagon and is extremely regretful about it,” Ms Behan said.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said of the accused, “He insisted drugs had nothing to do with him. He insisted messages on his phone to do with drugs had nothing to do with him. He was in complete denial.

“It appears to me he is a significant person involved in the sale or supply of cocaine… His consistent involvement in drug-dealing has to be noted and he showed no remorse,” Judge Ó Donnabháin said as he imposed a total sentence of five years with the last 18 months suspended.