A man who was beaten up at the funeral of his best friend, murdered in a drug-related execution, has been jailed for four years for possession of heroin.
Jason Lennon (22), formerly of The Crescent, Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the unlawful possession of heroin valued €124,000 for sale or supply last year.
Lennon's friend, David McCreevy was shot dead outside his Tallaght home in February, a few months after they were charged with the possession of the heroin. He was attacked and badly beaten at McCreevy's funeral because, gardaí believe, of his involvement with the drugs.
Detective Garda Darragh O'Toole said some "very dangerous people" were behind the drugs operation and McCreevy was murdered because he was seen to be expendable. He said Lennon had a serious drug problem at the time and was "merely the delivery boy" in the drugs hierarchy which had a sinister criminal who was currently serving prison sentences at the top of the pile.
Gardaí were waiting for instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions as to whether or not they could charge this man.
Judge Yvonne Murphy said that while the legislation allowed the court to take a number of matters into consideration in relation to the minimum 10 year sentence laid down in a case where the value of the drugs exceeded €12,700, she still had to remember that sentence.
She was satisfied that Lennon had taken "very positive steps" to deal with his addiction. He also had a partner and a young child and came from a decent hard-working family.
"But, the drug was heroin and the courts must indicate that people trafficking in drugs will be dealt with harshly. In this case I'm satisfied the sentence should be four years", she said.