British man jailed for smuggling drugs into Dublin Airport

By Claire Henry

A British man has been sentenced to four years in prison for possession of drugs at Dublin Airport in August 2024.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ryan Jennings (30) from Durrow in the UK pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled drug at Terminal One, Dublin Airport, on August 24, 2024. He has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said, “It seems that this man had a debt, and this caused him a lot of difficulty”.

Judge Nolan said this man signed a very early guilty plea, has no record of conviction, has had a family tragedy and has a long work history all of which he would consider as mitigating factors.

The judge said, “This man made a huge misjudgement”, and set a headline sentence of seven years. He said he could depart from the mandatory minimum ten-year sentence due to the mitigating factors in this case.

Judge Nolan sentenced him to four years in prison and backdated this to when he went into custody.

Garda Debbie Barnett told Lisa Dempsey, BL, prosecuting, that on the day in question, a member of customs at Dublin Airport saw Jennings acting suspiciously while walking through the blue channel within the airport. She approached him, stopped him and questioned him. She then invited him to place his large black suitcase onto the x-ray scanner.

The court heard that Jennings confirmed that the bag was his, and he handed over his British passport. In the suitcase, thirty-two vacuum-sealed bags were found. Jennings told customs that he had travelled from Bangkok via Paris.

Gda Barnet said Jenning informed them that he owed money but did not want to say anything else as he was worried for his family. A NIK drug test was carried out on the vacuum-sealed bags, which was positive for cannabis. Customs then contacted the gardai, and Jennings was arrested, detained and interviewed.

The court heard that cannabis with a value of €320,100 was contained in the sealed bags. During interview, Jennings made admissions and said that his child had died in 2022, and he began to drink heavily and built up a debt of £15,000. He told gardai that his work van had been burnt out and that this job was to clear his debt.

Gda Barnet agreed with Seamus Clarke, SC, defending, that his client’s son passed away in 2022, and his life spiralled, and he began taking drugs.

The garda agreed with counsel that Jennings had built up a debt and was told this job would clear his debt. She also agreed that Jennings was told that there was a little bit of cannabis in the suitcase, and when the bag was opened, he was shook and sick.

Mr Clarke said his client cooperated with gardai, and the signed pleas were beneficial.

Counsel handed testimonials to the court, some from Jennings’s family. The court also saw images of his burnt-out work van.

He said his client thought the only way to get out of this was to take part in this foolish venture. He said Jennings had approached the case in a remarkable way, came forward on signed pleas, made admissions, and had no previous convictions.

He asked the court to show Jenning mercy so he could return to his family in the UK.