By Claire Henry

A drug dealer has been jailed for two and a half years for the possession of drugs worth over €20,000 after two raids on his home in the space of 15 months.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a search warrant was granted to search the property of Declan Fagan (38) of Pearse Street, Sallynoggin and Gardaí arrived at the property on September 11, 2019.

Garda John Hynes told Eoin Lawlor BL, prosecuting, that when they arrived at the home of Fagan, they cautioned him. Fagan told gardaí that there “was weed in the house”.

One large bag and seven small ….read more

By Eimear Dodd

A young woman with mental health difficulties who repeatedly showed up at a garda station with a knife in her possession has received a fully suspended prison sentence.

Alina Buckley (19) was experiencing severe mental health difficulties at the time and was abusive towards gardaí during these incidents.

Buckley, of Trimleston Gardens, Booterstown, pleaded guilty to possession of a knife at three locations in the vicinity of Blackrock Garda Station on January 20, 2020, February 1, 2020 and May 15, 2020.

She also pleaded guilty to a count of threatening behaviour at Sweetman’s Avenue, Blackrock on April 10, 2020. Buckley has ….read more

By Claire Henry

A man in his 60s has been sentenced to two years in prison for the sexual assault of his niece in the 1990s.

Anita Byrne waived her right to anonymity in order to name her uncle Paul Farrell (65) of Breffni Gardens, Baldoyle, Dublin 13. Farrell was found guilty in June 2022 of one count of sexual assault and ten sample counts of sexual assault dating back from 1992 to 1993.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the first offence took place on the day of the funeral removal of Ms Byrne’s grandfather.

Farrell asked Ms Byrne to get something from ….read more

A serial roads offender who collided with a teenage pedestrian while cycling on the wrong side of the road, leaving the victim in need of intensive care for a bleed on the brain, has been given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Keith Paget (39) was cycling at speed on the wrong side of the road and was undertaking a van when he hit the pedestrian.

Paget of of Fairlawn Park, Finglas pleaded guilty to cycling in a dangerous manner in Finglas on September 29, 2020.

Sentencing him today, Judge Martin Nolan said for some reasons that cannot be fathomed, Paget decided to undertake a ….read more

(Pictured: Omowale Owolabi and Samson Ajayi. Photo: Collins)

Three men have been jailed for their roles in an elaborate romance fraud in which a woman in her sixties lost her life savings.

The three men were arrested by Gardaí attached to the National Economic Crime Bureau after the woman became suspicious about a man whom she had been messaging online.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a woman, who does not wish to be named, contacted a profile in the name of Neil Turner on the dating website Plenty of Fish in November 2019.

The two began to message each other romantically and over ….read more

A former courier who lost his job due to his cocaine habit later used his courier credentials and uniform to trick mobile phone shops into handing over mobile phones for delivery, a court has heard.

Dublin man John Rock (42) was wearing his old Nightline courier’s uniform when he showed up at a number of mobile phones outlets and showed staff his old Nightline staff identity card.

He would tell staff he was there to collect phones which were booked in for repair. He stole over €5,000 worth of mobile phones which he told gardai he sold on immediately in order to ….read more

By Sonya McLean and Isabel Hayes

A man who attacked and threatened to kill a sex worker and who, in a separate incident, threw his elderly father against a wall and broke his hip, has been jailed for just over six years.

The court heard that Alan Byrne (46) put an imitation gun to the escort’s head and threatened her with a knife. In the separate incident, his father said Byrne was roaring and shouting and “came at me with venom”. “He could have been shouting at me for about an hour beforehand. I was roaring crying with pain, he threw me ….read more

An electrician whose ‘life unravelled’ and who invaded a family home armed with a wheel brace in order to work off a drug debt has been jailed for six years.

Judge Melanie Greally said that David Hogan (31) was acting “as an enforcer and a general dogs body” for persons further up the drug dealing hierarchy.

On March 22, 2021 Hogan and another man went to a family home at The Gallops, Leopardstown and pushed their way inside. Hogan was armed with a wheel brace and was shouting at the homeowners that their son “had his stuff” and “they’re going to kill ….read more

By Eimear Dodd

A teenager who was just 15 when she took part in a violent, 40-minute long brawl in the reception area of a maternity hospital as part of a family feud has been handed a fully suspended sentence.

Bernadette Donovan, who is now 19 years old of Gardiner Street, Dublin city centre was among those involved in the violent brawl relating to a dispute between two families. She pleaded guilty to affray at the Rotunda Hospital on December 16, 2018.

Judge Orla Crowe said this incident occurred in the maternity hospital around Christmas time when “people would be going about much ….read more

By Eimear Dodd

Criminal Jason Paget and his attempted murderer accomplice Charles Darcy were caught by gardai after breaking into a pub owned by MMA star Conor McGregor, a court has heard.

After being found in a bush, Darcy told gardai he was hiding there because he was “visiting” a married woman who lived on the street but had to leave her home before her husband returned.

Charles Darcy (34) and his accomplice Jason Paget (35) both pleaded guilty to one count of burglary at Marble Arch pub, Benbulbin Road, Drimnagh and using a car without the consent of the owner on ….read more