Barman stored drugs to help pay down debt

A Bandon barman who became addicted to cocaine during the covid lockdown and was found with €18,700 worth of cocaine and mixing agents in the boot of his car, a court has heard.

Detective Garda Shannon Ryan said 48-year-old Liam Crowley of 1 Riverview Estate, Bandon, Co Cork, was acting as a storeman for the owner of the drugs.

Defence senior counsel Ray Boland said Crowley had been in full-time employment in the bar trade and had never come to the attention of gardaí before.

However, when officers stopped him driving at O’Mahony’s Avenue, Bandon, Co Cork, on January 23, 2022, they found cocaine and related items in his car boot.

The cocaine had a street value of €18,700. Mixing agents, a food processor, and baggies for storing deals were also found.

Det Gda Ryan accepted that the accused was “a piece in the jigsaw”. 

“The real owners of the drugs were not handling the drugs themselves but were directing him. He had a debt due to addiction.”

Ray Boland, defence senior counsel, said of Crowley: “He was effectively acting under duress to the real owners.

“At the age of 41, he started experimenting with cocaine. He developed an addiction during the covid lockdown. He ended up in debt to the real owners of these drugs. He was not involved in cutting these drugs. He was doing nothing other than storing them.”

The accused signed pleas of guilty to two counts, namely the possession of cocaine with a value of €13,000 — the threshold figure for a possible minimum sentence of ten years — for the purpose of sale and supply, and the possession of the mixing agent.

Judge Helen Boyle said: “I have considered the probation report and a report from an addiction counsellor.

“The Probation Service puts you at low risk of reoffending. That would also seem to be the view of the detective — they don’t expect to see you in court again.

“Mr Boland asks me to consider a fully suspended sentence. I am not going to do that today. I am going to put sentencing back for a year. If you continue to stay out of trouble, I will consider a proportionate sentence at that stage.”