Man who accepted delivery of €300,000 worth of ketamine spared prison sentence

By Eimear Dodd

A man who accepted delivery of €300,000 worth of ketamine to reduce a drugs debt has been spared a prison sentence.

Dylan O’Neill (21) of  pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of drugs for sale or supply in Raheny, Dublin 5, on March 26, 2021.

Judge Melanie Greally said she had taken the exceptional decision not to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years due to the defendant’s youth, his early guilty plea, lack of previous convictions and other mitigating factors.

Judge Greally imposed a five-year sentence suspended for five years on the condition that the defendant enters a bond to keep the peace and also undergo 12 months of supervision by the Probation Services.

In addition, the Judge warned O’Neill that he would receive no leniency for any future transgressions.

Garda Kerry Harmon gave evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that customs officers intercepted a package containing 6kg of white powder on March 24, 2021, addressed to ‘Dillon O’Neill’. Gardaí then carried out a controlled delivery on March 26, 2021, and the defendant accepted the package.

Gardai then searched the house, and O’Neill told gardaí that he did not know the package contained drugs.

Nevertheless, he agreed to accept the delivery on behalf of another individual, who he did not know, for “€1,000 worth of weed”.

The court heard that O’Neill later said he agreed to accept the package for €1,000 to reduce a drugs debt.

The drug analysis found that the package contained three bags of ketamine, valued at €300,000.

Gda Hudson agreed with the defence that there was no evidence found during the search to indicate O’Neill had any further involvement in the distribution of drugs.

The court heard O’Neill had a drug problem and had gotten into debt but was taking steps to deal with his addiction.

However, following a psychological assessment, he was diagnosed with ADHD and other cognitive and mental health difficulties.

Gda Harmon said the family home was attacked on three separate occasions before this incident.

O’Neill’s family left home due to fear of reprisals due to his drug debt. They were also present in court to support him.

During the sentence hearing on Thursday Judge Greally asked Gda Harmon if she believed O’Neill had learnt his lesson. Gda Harmon agreed, adding that O’Neill had shown genuine remorse and awareness of the impact of his actions on his family.