Father of four jailed for drug transport “favour”

A father-of-four who transported over €190,000 of cannabis as a favour for a friend has been jailed for four years.

James Preston (40) had been working as a labourer, but when building sites were shut down as a result of the Covid pandemic he relapsed into taking drugs and agreed to act as a “courier”.

Preston, of Wellview House, Tonlegee Road, Raheny, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Tonlegee Road, Raheny, on May 1, 2020.

He has 92 previous convictions, including convictions for robbery and attempted robbery.

Garda Margaret Reilly told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that gardaí received confidential information regarding the accused and on foot of this set up a surveillance operation in his area on the date in question.

Gda Reilly said Preston was observed driving a white VW van they knew him to own and was stopped. The van was searched and ten vacuum-packed bags of cannabis resin was discovered under a blanket in the back of the van.

The total value of the cannabis was €192,040.

In interview with gardaí, Preston said he had agreed to transport the drugs, although he did not know the value of what he was transporting.

He said he had agreed to do so as a favour for a friend and was not receiving any money for his role.

Gda Reilly agreed with Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, defending, that her client was effectively a “courier” and was at the lowest rung of the ladder in the operation. She accepted the explanation that Preston committed the offence as a favour for a friend.

The garda agreed Preston had been released from custody in May 2018 and had “turned his life around”. She agreed that this offence was “an isolated one-off incident”.

Ms Lawlor said her client engaged with the Coolmine programme very successfully following his release and worked as a labourer to support his family. She said he had four children, three of whom are adults, and he will soon be a grandfather.

Counsel said the Covid pandemic resulted in building sites being shut down and that he relapsed into taking drugs.

She said this brought him back into the circle of someone transporting drugs and he committed the offence.

Judge Martin Nolan said Preston emerged from prison and made the decision to go on “the straight and narrow”. He said the accused worked hard to support his family, but “events overtook him”, he lost work and he took drugs.

Judge Nolan sentenced Preston to four years imprisonment.