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Man caught with drugs in Kinder Surprise egg after stealing garda’s cap avoids jail

A quantity of Alprazolam tablets were found in the canister of a Kinder surprise toy

Andrew Phelan

Today at 08:30

A thief stole a garda’s cap as he was being released from custody after being charged with another offence, a court heard.

Thomas O’Driscoll (40) “immediately” took the cap and tried to hide it among his own belongings but was caught leaving the station.

Separately, he was found with sedative drugs in a child’s Kinder surprise egg when gardaí encountered him in a car on a city street.

Judge Bryan Smyth gave him a six-month suspended sentence when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

O’Driscoll, a father-of-one of St Mary’s Road, East Wall, pleaded guilty to theft and possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Garda Sergeant Michelle Lynch said an officer was on duty at Store Street station on September 26, 2020, when O’Driscoll was charged with another offence.

“Immediately after” he was released from custody, while he was retrieving his own property, O’Driscoll took the garda’s cap and tried to conceal it among his own belongings.

He was stopped after he left the station and the cap was recovered.

Separately, gardaí encountered O’Driscoll, who was in a car at Ossory Road, Dublin 1, on August 26, 2020.

A quantity of Alprazolam tablets were found in the canister of a Kinder surprise toy, while the accused also had a small bag of cannabis worth €20.

On August 17, gardaí saw the accused in a suspicious transaction at Connolly Station. When stopped and searched, he had €140 worth of heroin.

O’Driscoll had 255 previous convictions for offences including theft. He was already serving another, 21-month sentence when he appeared in court, with a release date next March.

O’Driscoll suffered a tragic incident at the age of 11 when he witnessed his father being stabbed to death, his solicitor Roy O’Neill said.

He subsequently turned to drugs and spent most of his adult life addicted. The accused also had significant mental health issues, Mr O’Neill said.

He had taken a “pragmatic approach” to the charges and pleaded guilty without asking for any disclosure of prosecution evidence.

“He put his hands up and accepted responsibility,” Mr O’Neill said.

Judge Smyth said the accused had a substantial number of previous convictions and a prison sentence was warranted. However, he suspended it for two year