Woman who was driving uninsured car which had €130,000 worth of pills in it given suspended sentence

By Isabel Hayes

A woman who was driving an uninsured car that was found to contain more than €130,000 worth of pills has been given a suspended sentence and disqualified from driving for two years.

Nicole Donohue (32), of Harolds Cross Cottages, Harolds Cross, Dublin 6, pleaded guilty to one count of impeding the apprehension of an offender and one count of driving without insurance at an address in Dublin on December 5, 2019.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today that Donohue was in a car with a man that was pulled over by gardaí on patrol on Armagh Road in Crumlin after they noticed there was no insurance disk on display.

Shaun Smyth BL, prosecuting, told the court that gardaí spoke to Donohue and the man before they noticed a smell of cannabis and searched the car.

A black bag containing more than 65,500 Alprazolam tablets – with a street value of €131,108 – was discovered in the boot, the court heard.

The man fled the scene while Donohue was arrested.

She told gardaí she was not aware of the drugs in the car.

The court heard the car, which was not Donohue’s, was uninsured and the NCT had expired.

Donohue has a small number of previous convictions for road traffic offences.

She was initially charged with a Section 15A drug offence, but her guilty pleas to the lesser charges were accepted by the Director for Public Prosecutions.

The man she was with was arrested by gardaí later that night but never charged, the court heard.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said Donohue had been in a difficult relationship at the time of the offence and her apartment was being used by drug users.

She has since attended counselling and is now clean.

She has a supportive family and an 11-month-old baby as well as an older child.

Sentencing Donohue, Judge Martin Nolan said he believed she was unlikely to reoffend.

He handed down a three-year sentence, which he suspended on a number of conditions.

He suspended her from driving for a period of two years.