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A Cork man trapped at a Covid checkpoint transporting € 95,000 worth of cocaine has avoided a jail sentence after a court learned of his extensive efforts to rehabilitate himself.
Garda Shane Harten told the court that Gary Nolan (39) was visibly nervous and sweating when he stopped his van at the Covid checkpoint in Clondalkin last May. He asked Nolan about a package in the passenger footwell of the van and Nolan told him it contained cocaine.
Nolan told Gardaí that he had accumulated a debt for drugs and had been asked to transport them back to Cork to reduce the money owed. He said they had threatened him many times.
The court has since heard that Nolan has been assisting regularly with a counselor and has been giving clean urine. The counselor said she has never had a client so motivated or interested in recovery.
Nolan, based in Drishane More, Killeagh, Cork, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of cocaine on Outer Ring Road, Clondalkin on May 18, 2020. He has no prior convictions.
Judge Martin Nolan said mitigation in the case was obvious and included his early guilty plea, admission of his involvement, lack of prior records and the fact that he was unlikely to repeat offenders.
He noted that Nolan was mired in a very expensive cocaine addiction at the time and was in debt.
He took into account his good work history and the support within his family and community.
He said there were grounds for departing from the presumed mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and that he found there were “exceptional” factors in this case, including evidence from Nolan’s counsel on his progress and testimony given to the court.
Judge Nolan imposed a five-year sentence that he suspended entirely.
Garda Shane Harten agreed with Michael Bowman SC, arguing that Nolan was in great distress, shaking and sweating uncontrollably. He said Nolan couldn’t have been more cooperative on the scene. He agreed that Nolan told them that he had been threatened several times and that he was afraid.
Gda Harten agreed that Nolan told them that he had tried to control his addiction in early 2020, but during the lockdown, his position deteriorated. He agreed with Bowman that Nolan would have no control over the amount of money he owed and that it could go up and down.
He agreed that Nolan’s family had sought help for him and that an appointment had been made to see a counselor prior to his arrest. Since then he has attended counseling on a regular basis.
Mr. Bowman delivered a series of testimonies that he said described his client as a decent man with support within his family and community. He said all the letter writers were aware of the charges, but believed it was not like Nolan.
Mr. Bowman stated that this was a very unusual case that “met all the legal requirements” in terms of special and exceptional circumstances.
He said Nolan was a young man who had gone into debt and offended out of fear of retaliation, but has since acted brave and moral.
Bowman said rehabilitation was not an aspiration in this case, but that it has become firmly established. He said Nolan was a grown man who made certain decisions, but has since sought to reward himself with good decisions.
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