struck out | 

Apprentice who brought cocaine to supply at party during Covid was ‘naive’

Judge Micele Finan said she would strike the case out, leaving him without a criminal record if he made a €300 charity donation.

Today at 09:41

AN apprentice mechanic caught bringing cocaine to a party to supply other revellers had been “naive,” a court heard.

Jack O’Connor (21) was caught when gardai stopped the car he was in during the Covid pandemic.

Judge Micele Finan said she would strike the case out, leaving him without a criminal record if he made a €300 charity donation.

O’Connor, with an address at Keeper Road, Crumlin, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply.

Detective Garda Marc Kelly told Dublin District Court in May 2021, a car was stopped at Kylemore Road and the accused was subject to a drugs search. He had around €500 worth of cocaine and a smaller amount of cannabis.

The accused had no previous convictions.

O’Connor had been among a number of people in the car on the way to a party, his solicitor said. No drugs paraphernalia were found in the car.

The court heard the amount of cocaine found would not have been for one person’s use. The accused accepted the charge.

O’Connor, an apprentice mechanic, had been “very naive” in thinking it was “alright” to go to a party and supply others.

“He stands corrected,” his lawyer said. “He knows it was entirely unacceptable to carry on in this fashion.”

He had taken responsibility for the offence at the earliest opportunity.

O’Connor was no longer associating with the same people and had moved out of Dublin. He was doing extremely well in his apprenticeship.

The judge adjourned the case for payment of the money to charity.