A roofer who was storing just under €40,000 worth of heroin behind the insulation in the attic of his home to pay off a drug debt has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Graham Lynch (41) told gardaí he would get a call when a certain person “needed stuff” and he would pass on the drugs. He was delivering small quantities to people in his local area and was storing the rest of the drugs until he was told what to do with it.
Lynch made admissions in garda interview and said he was storing the drugs on behalf of others.
Lynch of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the heroin for sale or supply at his home on August 20th, 2019. He has six previous convictions for minor road traffic offences.
Passing sentence today, Judge Melanie Greally said that Lynch was before the courts with a very limited history of offending and noted that urine analysis had been negative for drugs.
'Anti-social contacts'
Judge Greally said the offence coincided with “a particular low” during which Lynch established “anti-social contacts”. She said he appears to have extracted himself from that world.
She sentenced Lynch to four years imprisonment, but suspended the final 18 months of the sentence on strict conditions, including that he follow all directions of the Probation Service for 12 months post release.
At a previous sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Brian Quinn told Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, that a small amount of heroin was found in the sitting room and bedroom of Lynch's home. He then searched the attic and found more heroin hidden behind the insulation. The drugs were worth an estimated €39,004.
Det Gda Quinn agreed that Lynch didn't own the drugs but was “a cog in the machine of supply”.
Drug debt
He accepted a suggestion from Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that Lynch was “vulnerable” at the time and had been “taken advantage of”.
Det Gda Quinn agreed with Mr Clarke that Lynch had been abusing cocaine at the time and had built up a drug debt. He was then put under pressure to store the drugs and had been doing so for two or three weeks.
He accepted that Lynch told gardaí in interview that he had been “stupid” and said “I didn't know where to turn”.
Mr Clarke said Lynch is a father of two teenage boys. He was on social welfare at the time of his arrest but has since returned to work as a roofer.
