Man caught with drone containing heroin flying over Cloverhill Prison jailed for 14 months 

By Eimear Dodd 

A man found in possession of a controller for a drone attached to a copper pipe which contained almost €500 of heroin seen flying over Cloverhill Prison has been jailed. 

Wayne McDonnell (39) pleaded guilty to a charge of having in his possession or control a drone with intent of using that drone to fly a controlled substance, diamorphine, into Cloverhill Prison in connection with facilitating or instigating a drug trafficking offence. 

McDonnell, of St Finians Avenue, Lucan, Co. Dublin, was yesterday jailed for 14 months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. 

Garda Tadhg McCarthy gave evidence that prison staff at Cloverhill observed a drone flying over the prison on February 12, 2024. 

They used a tracking system to track the drone’s flight path and provided this information to gardai, who then searched a wasteland near the prison, where they encountered McDonnell. 

Gda McCarthy told Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, that McDonnell started to walk away and refused to open his pockets when gardai indicated they wished to search him.

He was arrested, and when searched at the garda station found to be in possession of two black Samsung phones, one of which was the drone controller. 

When gardai searched the wasteland again, they found the drone, to which a copper pipe containing five deals of diamorphine had been attached by string. 

There was a total of 4.9g of diamorphine, with a street value of €587, the court was told. 

McDonnell was interviewed, but nothing of evidential value was obtained. He has a number of previous convictions, all at the District Court, including for possession of drugs, theft and public order offences. 

The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions directed summary disposal, but jurisdiction was refused by the District Court.

McDonnell entered an early guilty plea and has no trappings of wealth. 

Gda McCarthy agreed with Oisin Clarke BL, defending, that this is McDonnell’s first time before the Circuit Court and that some of his previous convictions date back many years. 

It was further accepted that McDonnell has longstanding addiction issues and there is evidence that he is not the owner of the drone. 

Mr Clarke said McDonnell has addictions to heroin and alcohol, and instructs that he recently started on methadone. He submitted that McDonnell’s previous convictions fit the profile of someone with addiction issues. 

McDonnell has a good work history as a scaffolder with several references and an offer of work handed to the court on his behalf. He is currently not working full-time in order to support his father, who is awaiting major surgery, Mr Clarke said. 

Counsel noted that bringing drugs into a prison is “abhorrent” and “does nothing to assist anyone”. 

He asked the court to take into account that while it is accepted that his client was found with the drone controller, it was not his along with the low value of the drugs. 

Imposing sentence, Judge Elma Sheahan noted the aggravating factors include the seriousness of the offending. 

She noted the mitigation included McDonnell’s early guilty plea, his background, work history and that he is supporting his father. 

The judge said deterrence was an important factor that the court had to consider and that the custodial threshold had been reached, before imposing a 14-month sentence.