A MAN caught with £500,000 worth of heroin and a sawnoff shotgun last February has been jailed for 10 years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Fergus Duffy was called "a modern day horror" by Judge Kieran O'Connor who had been, told he was one of the most prominent heroin suppliers in the Dublin north inner city area in late 1996.
"Heroin does untold damage to this city and the country and 90 per cent of the crime I have to deal with arises out of your evil trade," he told Duffy. Judge O'Connor was told Duffy admitted he was paid £500 a week by his London based uncle to distribute the heroin found in his possession when gardai raided a north Dublin city apartment.
Duffy (28), single, from London but with an address at Gracepark Heights, Drumcondra, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for supply at an apartment in Phoenix Court, Infirmary Road on February 6th, 1997.
He also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of the sawn off shotgun and one 12 gauge cartridge at Gracepark Heights on the same date.
Duffy was born in Tullamore, Co Offaly but moved to England when two years old. He had nine previous convictions there for petty offences and was not a drug abuser.
Mr Gregory Murphy SC (with Mr George Birmingham), prosecuting, said the Phoenix Court apartment was "a heroin depot" for Duffy and the drugs organisation. It had been rented by Duffy in his own name around the summer of 1996 for £325 a month but wasn't lived in.
Det Sgt John O'Driscoll said he and Det Garda Angela Willis with other members of the North Central Divisional Drug Unit forced their way into the apartment. Duffy was standing at a bed with a hold all in which plastic bags of heroin were found.
The shotgun and a round of ammunition were found in a simultaneous raid on the house in Gracepark Heights. Duffy said he bought the gun because it was sold cheap but Mr Murphy told the court the prosecution was not making much of the gun offence because of the seriousness of the heroin charge.
Det Sgt O'Driscoll said Duffy was not the main player in the operation but was a prominent person in the drugs trade. The quantity found was just short of 2 kg and was 50 per cent pure, giving it a street value of £520,000.
Regular 2 kg quantities of heroin were imported every two to three weeks. The previous delivery was three weeks before the Phoenix Court raid. Duffy made a statement admitting his role was as a clearer to distribute it to other dealers who would sell it on the streets.
Det Sgt O'Driscoll agreed with Mr Barry White SC (with Mr Patrick Marrinan), defending, that gardai forced their way into the apartment solely to prevent the destruction of evidence. Duffy had not obstructed them.
Judge O'Connor refused to set a review date for the 10 year sentence and to grant leave to appeal severity of sentence.
"You were supplying the means by which people can destroy their lives. If you were a heavy addict I could understand it but you were doing this solely for profit," he added.