A SUCCESSFUL businessman in the fitness industry has been fined €6,000 after being caught with anabolic steroid tablets.
Michael Kehoe (27) was caught with the drugs in his home four years ago. He said he had them for himself and would occasionally give them away to friends.
The steroids are generally used by athletes and body-builders to increase performance.
Kehoe, of Orwell Park, Rathgar, is a former gym owner and now runs a website selling specialised gym equipment. He pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying a medicinal substance other than as prescribed on March 25th, 2004 at his then home in Glasnevin Downs, Glasnevin.
Judge Pat McCartan said the drugs clearly had a negative impact on the sporting world but he believed Kehoe had learned his lesson. He fined him €2,000 on each of the three counts with six months in jail if he fails to pay.
He also ordered that he pay costs to the prosecution of €3,000 for the destruction by the Irish Medicines Board
Defence counsel, Peter Keane said his client suffers from Male Body Dysmorphia, a psychiatric disorder where the sufferer is obsessed with how their body appears. He said he became part of a “culture of steroid abuse” through the people he was training and mixing with.
Liam Wright of the Irish Medicines Board testified that there was a “commercial quantity” of the drugs and he did not think they were for personal use. He said they would be supplied to athletes in gyms and other sporting organisations.
Mr Wright told Ronan Kennedy, prosecuting, that he was present at the search of the house to offer technical assistance to gardaí.
Gardaí and Customs Officers got a warrant to search the house where Kehoe was living with his girlfriend.
Some 80,000 tablets were found consisting of six different types of steroids, including “Angel Dust”, “Pink Thai” and ephedrine.
They also found glass vials, a tablet moulding device, used needles, and price lists for anabolic steroids. There were payment documents relating to purchases from Russia, Pakistan and China and packaging originating from Thailand.
Mr Wright said all these drugs were banned in Ireland and people usually sourced them illegally on the internet. Their total value was estimated at about €20,000. Kehoe admitted in interview to buying “body-building stuff” online but said it was just for him and his friends.
Mr Keane said his client’s early guilty plea had saved the prosecution a complex trial which faced many technical difficulties. He said Kehoe had no previous convictions and was no longer taking steroids. He said after dropping out of computer science in Dublin City University he worked in fast food restaurants and as a doorman.
He then opened up a small gym before starting his current company which had a turnover of €325,000 last year and an operating profit of €70,000.
Welcoming the successful prosecution Pat O’Mahony, chief executive of the Irish Medicines Board stated that the illegal sale and supply of such products was a threat to public health as anabolic steroids taken without medical care can cause serious damage to health and used on a continued basis shorten life expectancy.