By Eimear Dodd
A mother was jailed and her son walked free from court on a suspended sentence after being found in possession of almost €30,000 worth of cannabis.
Laura Deering (50) and Alan Deering (30) both with addresses at Cloonmore Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that gardai carried out a search on June 5, 2023 after receiving confidential information regarding the storage of cannabis at an address in Cloonmore Park.
Judge Orla Crowe sentenced Laura Deering to four years with two years suspended for a period of two years. Her son Alan Deering was given a four-year sentence but Judge Crowe suspended it in its entirety.
Garda Michael Curtin previously told Joe Mulrean BL, prosecuting that Laura Deering was present when gardai arrived to carry out the search and told them there was cannabis in a locker in an upstairs bedroom, which she said was worth around €5,000.
She said she was holding the drugs and replied “yes, very much”, when asked if she was struggling financially.
460g of cannabis, with a value of €9,200, was found in an upstairs bedroom where Laura Deering had told gardai it was stored.
Another large package of cannabis was found hidden under clothes in a wardrobe in a different bedroom.
This package had Alan Deering’s fingerprints on it. When she was asked about it, Laura Deering denied any knowledge of it.
She was arrested and interviewed on one occasion. She took ownership of the cannabis found in the locker and said she had been paid to hold other items including a weighing scales, which she denied using.
Laura Deering said she was living alone at the time, but other family members had access to the house.
When asked about her financial situation, she said “everything was upside down”. She said she was out of work, and had depression and anxiety.
Laura Deering has previous convictions including four for drugs offences.
At the time of this offence, a two-year suspended sentence was active, the court was told.
Alan Deering was arrested and interviewed, but nothing of evidential value was obtained.
His fingerprint was found on the larger package of cannabis found in the wardrobe.
This package of cannabis weighed 970g and had a value of approximately €19,400.
Alan Deering also has previous convictions, including one for a drugs offence.
The court was told that Laura Deering entered an early guilty plea and while Alan Deering initially took a trial date, he pleaded shortly afterwards.
Gda Curtin agreed with counsel for both defendants that the guilty pleas were of value to the prosecution.
He also agreed with Carl Hanahoe SC, defending Alan Deering, that his client was not the subject of confidential information obtained by gardai, and was not on their radar before or after this incident.
It was further accepted that Alan Deering was not living at that address at the time and that he has a good work history.
Gda Curtin also agreed with Karl Monahan BL, defending Laura Deering, that his client told gardai she was unaware of the larger amount of cannabis stored in the other room.
It was further accepted that she said she was minding the drugs for someone else, declined to give further information and apologised.
Gda Curtin told Judge Crowe that it was “likely” that Laura Deering was storing the drugs for another party, but could not say if she was getting paid.
References and letters from both defendants were handed to the court.
Mr Hanahoe asked the court to take into account that his client lives an otherwise pro-social life and is involved in running the family business.
He said his client outlined the circumstances in which this offending took place, and suggested that pressure had been put on the family due to another family member’s drugs debt.
Mr Monahan said his client instructs that a family member had built up a drugs debt of €10,000 and she was put under pressure to repay this, with windows of her home broken.
His client held the drugs in order to reduce this debt.
He said he is instructed that this was not reported to gardai, and that the drugs debt has since been discharged. He asked for as much leniency as possible for his client.
Having heard the facts of the case on a previous date, Judge Crowe ordered a probation report.
Yesterday, she noted Laura Deering was on a suspended sentence at the time she committed this offence.
The judge said sale and supply of controlled drugs does untold damage and drug dealing “is very serious”.
When given a chance Deering “goes back out and does it again”.
The judge noted her plea, that she was out of work and asserted she was not aware the drugs were in the house.
Judge Crowe noted Laura Deering was 49 at time and has done volunteering in the community.
She noted Alan Deering has a brief criminal record and they had to be punished differently.
She noted he was at low risk of reoffending.