Man caught with €6k cocaine in Cork given suspended sentence

A young man who was caught with €6,000 worth of cocaine and €2,295 in cash after his behaviour raised the suspicions of gardaí at Magazine Road in Cork almost four years ago has turned his life around completely.

The case concerns Ryan Sievewright, aged 29, of Lios Cross, Ballygarvan, county Cork, who has now been given the benefit of a fully suspended 16-month sentence by Judge Sinead Behan at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge Mary Dorgan previously refused to accept jurisdiction to deal with the case at Cork District Court where the DPP would have accepted it as a venue on a guilty plea only. Detective Garda Derry O’Brien testified that he was on patrol on March 16, 2021, when he observed Ryan Sievewright’s car stopped on Magazine Road and the defendant was acting suspiciously and €996 worth of cocaine, 12 MDMA tablets and a weighing scales were found. This prompted a follow-up search at his home.

The investigation gave rise to charges that included having drugs for sale or supply which occurred both at Magazine Road and at his home in Ballygarvan and money-laundering at his home address where the money and other drugs were found.

Det Garda O’Brien accepted that the young man was doing well in his life since the offences came to light in 2021.