Repeat offender gets two years in prison after being caught with €20k worth of drugs at Cork home

A 39-year-old man who was caught with over €20,000 worth of drugs at his home in Cork had to get a custodial sentence in a case aggravated by the fact that he got a suspended term for drug dealing over 15 years ago, a judge has said.

Wojciech Cichosz was jailed for two years by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. 

A search warrant was used when gardaí arrived at the home of Cichosz at Sheridan Park, Tramore Rd, Cork, on February 28, 2022. Various types of drugs in different types of wraps were found in a number of locations around the property. Cannabis with a total street value of €9,400 was found, along with more than €13,000 worth of amphetamine.

It was pointed out that the accused man co-operated during the search, and made admissions. “But he was in fear and did not say where the drugs came from,” the judge noted.

The way he described his actions, he said he would leave home and go for a walk and sell drugs to friends.

Paula McCarthy, prosecution barrister, said Cichosz had three previous drug-dealing convictions dating back to 2008 and 2009. In mitigation, it was pointed out that his signed pleas of guilty to the drugs charges on this occasion saved the State the time and expense of having to call garda witnesses in a trial.

“You said you were a drug user but stopped using drugs after this,” Judge Boyle said.

Defence barrister Emmet Boyle said this event was a wake-up call for the accused, who has not come to adverse garda attention since.

Judge Boyle said: “An aggravating factor is you were given a chance by the circuit court with a suspended sentence for the same offence, albeit a long time ago.”

The judge imposed a two-year jail sentence, consisting of a total sentence of 44 months, with the last 20 months suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.