Man avoids jail after he was caught holding €55,000 worth of drugs because he was threatened

By Brion Hoban

A man caught holding over €55,000 in cannabis and cocaine who was threatened that he was going to get “whacked” has been given a fully suspended sentence.

Ciaran Aspin (36) made an attempt to flee from gardaí while in possession of drugs which ended with him sliding on the garda car’s bonnet.

Aspin of Woodlands, Mulhuddart, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cannabis and cocaine for sale or supply at his address on October 27, 2018.

He has four previous convictions including one for drink driving.

Garda Cillian Daly told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, at an earlier sentence hearing in July 2020, that in the early hours of the morning on the date in question, gardaí were out on patrol when they spotted the accused man cycling without wearing high-visibility clothing and without lights.

Gda Daly said that when stopped by gardaí, Aspin appeared nervous and claimed he lived in a nearby house but was unable to provide the house’s number.

Aspin fled on his bike when informed he was about to be searched.

Aspin cycled on to a grass area and failed to get through a pedestrian gate, turning back towards the garda car and ending up sliding on its bonnet.

He was searched and a quantity of cannabis was found in a bag he was carrying.

Gardaí later searched his home, where they discovered further bags of cannabis in the back garden and bags of cocaine in a bedroom.

The total value of all drugs discovered was €57,642.14.

Gda Daly agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that his client had an outstanding drugs bill from when he had problems with drugs years earlier.

Aspin told gardaí he was threatened that he was going to get “whacked”, meaning shot.

Aspin told gardaí he was not a drug dealer and that he was just holding the drugs at his house.

He asked if the gardaí would have done the same as him if they had three drug dealers saying his house was going to be shot at and his parents were in danger.

Mr Spencer said his client has a pronounced stammer that worsens when he is nervous and has been assessed as being in the lowest rung of an adult intelligence scale.

He said Aspin was introduced to alcohol and cannabis at an early age and became addicted to cocaine but is now clean of drugs.

Counsel said his client was employed throughout the Covid emergency as a delivery driver.

Judge Elma Sheahan had previously adjourned the case having heard evidence and ordered a report from the Probation Service.

Today she sentenced Aspin to three years in prison which she suspended in full on strict conditions including that he engage with the Probation Service for two years.

Judge Sheahan said she “cannot ignore the role (Aspin) plays” in the drug industry and noted that he had got involved in the offence “owing to the fact of a drug debt he ran up himself”.

She acknowledged that Aspin has since repaid that drug debt which “puts him at a remove from re-offending” Judge Sheahan said, after she accepted that the report from the Probation Service concluded that he engaged with the service and was considered to be at a low risk of re-offending.

“I am satisfied that he has insight into his actions and the dangers associated with relapse,” the judge said after accepting that Aspin has made “successful efforts” to get drug free and remain drug free.

Judge Sheahan said that Aspin had shown genuine remorse for his actions, co-operated with the gardaí, has full time employment and a stable family unit before she suspended the three-year term.