Courts / Dublin / Report
Father-of-two stored €153k in drugs after threat to daughter's life
Summary
Brendan Heaney, a 51‑year‑old father of two from Kimmage, Dublin, was arrested after gardaí discovered a large quantity of drugs in his home, including 395 g of heroin and numerous pharmaceutical tablets. He claimed that the drugs were stored to protect his daughter, a recovering crack cocaine addict who had accrued €26,000 in debts to a Finglas‑based drug gang. According to Heaney, the gang threatened to kill his daughter and had previously threatened to slash her face. He said he had no intention of profiting from the drugs and that he had only stored them to prevent harm to his daughter. He pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 4 April 2017. Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Heaney's circumstances had forced him into the offence, noted his prior five‑year UK sentence, and imposed a 16‑month prison term.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Father-of-two stored €153k in drugs after threat to daughter's life. Charges or matters: possession of drugs for sale or supply at his home on April 4, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- April 4, 2017 Incident
- 2018-12-21 Publication
Why: He accepted that Heaney was forced into the crime because of his daughter's "predicament". CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possession of drugs for sale or supply at his home on April 4, 2017 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Nolan noted that Heaney had received a five-year sentence in the UK for a drugs possession, but accepted this was an old conviction. He told the court he could depart from the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for drugs offences of this kind and imposed 16 months in prison.; The judge remanded Heaney on bail until February, but warned that his custodial sentence would remain the same on that date.
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