Two men denied bail over €2.7m drug seizure in Dublin

Tom Tuite

A council worker and a father of four, allegedly caught red-handed in a "handover" of about €2.7m worth of cocaine in Dublin, have been refused bail.

Robert Murphy, aged 36, a council employee with an address at Dunsink Green, Finglas, Dublin, and 40-year-old Anthony Naughton, of Saint Michan's House, Greek Street, Dublin 7, were charged with possessing cocaine for sale or supply in Coolock on March 20th.

They appeared at Dublin District Court on Monday.

Judge Conor Fottrell heard that 38kg of cocaine were seized by gardaí from the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT), who searched a container allegedly rented by Naughton at Newtown Avenue.

Murphy, alone, has additional charges for possessing cocaine and cannabis at his home address.

Garda Philip Lavery and Garda Joseph Melville objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the offence, which allegedly enhanced an organised criminal organisation (OCG). Judge Fottrell remanded them in custody to appear again on March 25th next.

Lavery contended that if Murphy were released on bail, he could destroy evidence, as he was allegedly using disappearing messages in his activities.

His defence counsel, Ciara Murray, implored the judge to grant bail, arguing that her client is a "full-time employee" of Dublin City Council, a father of two children, and has a stable address with his wife.

She submitted that Murphy would agree to sign on daily, telling Judge Fottrell that there was "no reason" not to admit him to bail.

Lavery replied that Murphy had a "full-time role" in the "transportation" and "storage" of drugs for an OCG.

Garda Melville alleged that CCTV footage showed a handover of drugs between Murphy and the co-accused, who had rented the container.

He alleged that Naughton drove from the container to a nearby location and took a sports bag and two plastic shopping bags from Murphy's car.

It was claimed he put them into his vehicle, drove back to the container, and placed the bags in a box covered with a tile.

Melville agreed with defence solicitor Tracy Horan that the father-of-four gave an account but described it as self-serving.

The contested bail hearing was told that Naughton thought there was money, not drugs, in the bags and that he told gardaí "I made a stupid mistake, I was asked to hold the bags for someone".

The garda asserted that the accused could reoffend, having been left in debt by the loss of the seized drugs.

Horan said his account is that the first time he looked in the bags was when he brought them into the container, and he knew something was wrong.

Horan said her client, who was visibly upset during the hearing, attended by several family members, would abide by strict conditions.

Pleading for bail, the solicitor argued that it could take years until her client's trial gets underway.

She asked that he be let out with a surety, and he was adamant that he would not have taken the bags if he had known they contained drugs.

In his rulings, the judge emphasised that they had the presumption of innocence, but he decided that bail would not address the concerns raised by the DCRT officers' evidence.