Man who used taxi to deliver €20,000 worth of drugs avoids jail

By Claire Henry

A man who used a taxi to deliver just under €20,000 worth of cannabis has received a three year suspended sentence.

Garda Dean Foster was on duty on October 9, 2020, when he observed a man acting agitated while getting into a taxi. The taxi was stopped on the Fonthill Road in Clondalkin, and gardaí noted a very strong smell of cannabis in the taxi.

John Hogan (32) of Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght was found in possession of a small quantity of drugs which was later identified as cannabis and valued at €70. Hogan acknowledged that these drugs belonged to him.

An Iceland shopping bag was also found in the taxi, which contained two vacuumed sealed bags of drugs later identified as cannabis and valued at just under €20,000. Hogan was then arrested and brought for questioning.

Hogan pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, on October 9, 2020.

During questioning following his arrest, Hogan declined to tell gardaí who the larger quantity of drugs belonged to. He stated that he was told to pick up the drugs and drop them off at another location.

Garda Foster said he believed that Hogan was vulnerable and carrying the larger quantity of drugs under threat. The taxi driver also informed gardaí that a third party had prepaid the taxi.

At the time Hogan had been couch surfing for three years, but has since moved back in with his mother, who has a serious medical condition. The court also heard that Hogan suffers from anxiety and depression and was self-medicating with cannabis at the time.

The court heard that Hogan co-operated fully with the gardaí during the investigation and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Judge Martin Nolan took the mitigating factors such as Hogan’s early guilty plea and his full cooperation with gardaí during the investigation and sentenced him to three years imprisonment, but suspended the sentence in full under the condition that he is of good behaviour and keep the peace.