A man described as the instigator in a street drug deal involving undercover gardaí, was jailed for 12 months yesterday.
Kenneth Shannon (22), Ballyfermot Drive, Dublin, denied possession of heroin for supply at Lord Edward Street on January 29th last year.
Dublin District Court heard he was arrested as part of a Garda operation targeting street dealers in the Christchurch area.
Undercover officer Ciaran O'Reilly was given a €20 note, which had been photocopied by gardaí, and instructed not to initiate any deal when he visited the area. He told the court he "assumed the mannerisms of a heroin addict" and after a while Shannon and another man approached him.
Shannon said to him: "Here, are you looking for gear (slang for heroin)?"
He said yes and specified that he wanted one deal and at this point, the other man took a small bag from his mouth and handed it to the garda in return for the €20.
The garda walked off and a short time later, uniformed gardaí arrested both men involved in the deal. Shannon was strip-searched at Pearse Street Garda station and was found to have had no drugs on him. The other man, Roy Farrell, was charged but later absconded while on bail.
Shannon was also later charged on the basis that he had been involved in a joint enterprise with Farrell.
Yesterday, he told the court that he had "bumped into" Farrell, whom he had known for a few years, just before his arrest. He denied a prosecution claim that he was the instigator of the transaction.
Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick rejected a defence argument that the case for joint enterprise had not been sufficiently made by the State.