Midleton man hiding cocaine deals faces sentence

A man faces sentencing at the Cork District Court after a garda search found 15 deals of cocaine concealed in his undergarments.

The 40-year-old Midleton man accused of having cocaine and almost 800 Alprazolam tablets for sale or supply at Wellington Rd in Cork, pleaded guilty to the crimes.

Derry Healy, of 8 Forrest Hill, Midleton, Co Cork, was charged by Garda Eoghan O’Mahony with the drugs offences committed on November 1, 2023, at Wellington Rd, Cork.

Sergeant Gearóid Davis said the tablets had a street value of €3,000. He added that gardaí searching Mr Healy found that “he had a package containing 15 deals of cocaine in his undergarments”.

The cocaine had a street value of €500.

Sgt Davis said Derry Healy had 11 previous convictions for having drugs for his own use and four for having drugs for sale or supply.

Defence solicitor Joseph Cuddigan stressed that the charges dated back to November 2023.

Mr Cuddigan said the matter could not have been dealt with before now because forensic analysis had to be carried out on the drugs.

“Once that was done, the plea was forthcoming,” Mr Cuddigan said.

“He was not so much dealing, he was holding it for someone.

“He was in a situation to hold the cocaine on behalf of another party.

“He had been making quite good progress other than this slip.”

“It was not a slip,” Judge Mary Dorgan said.

“This is quite serious. We all know the difficulties being caused by cocaine in Cork.”

Mr Cuddigan challenged the €3,000 valuation for the tablets and said it was closer to half of that.

The solicitor said that the defendant used Alprazolam — a Xanax-type tablet — himself.

He suggested that it might be of assistance to have a probation report prepared on the accused.

Judge Dorgan agreed to adjourn sentencing for a probation report until October 16, but commented: “His excuses are somewhat hollow.”