A FORMER prison officer will be sentenced in December for smuggling three mobile phones to an inmate.
Christopher Nolan (41), Littlepace, Clonee, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of conveying a mobile phone to a prisoner in 2006.
The prisoner, Englishman Paul Fitzgerald, was serving a 10-year sentence for drug possession at the time and has since been repatriated. Judge Patricia Ryan adjourned sentencing to allow a probation report to be prepared.
Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, told Judge Ryan the maximum penalty was five years imprisonment but the court had inherent jurisdiction with regard to financial penalties and community service orders.
Det Sgt Cormac Brennan told Mr McGinn that Nolan was targeted following the receipt of confidential information during an investigation into contraband in prisons. Det Sgt Brennan said Nolan was arrested in March 2007 and made admissions during interview. Nolan told gardaí he had felt threatened by Fitzgerald who told him he knew details of his home address and car registration.