Man was arrested with heroin on train to Mayo
The defendant pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A man caught with heroin on the train from Dublin to Ballina has received a suspended jail sentence after the court heard that he was a recovering addict.
George Kinsella, aged 51, formerly of Corcoran Terrace, Ballina, but now living in Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply when he appeared before a sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
Det Gda Sean Ryan told the court that on October 23, 2019, Gardaí received information that Kinsella was travelling from Heuston Station in Dublin to Ballina with heroin in his possession.
When he alighted at Manulla Junction, Gardaí boarded the Ballina-bound train and stopped Kinsella on his way to the bathroom. He was caught trying to conceal three wraps of heroin in his trousers. The drugs had an estimated value of €802.
The accused has 19 previous convictions.
The court heard Kinsella was a heroin addict for a long period in Dublin. He had been clean from 2001 to 2018 and was considered something of a success story for the Probation Service in Dublin before his move to Ballina and the death of his mother. Kinsella has been drug-free for the past three years, the court was told.
Kinsella was believed to have been smoking the drugs himself and selling to two to three others in Ballina. Det Gda Ryan said there was no monetary gain.
“It’s tough life. You can see the effects of heroin on this man,” the Garda stated.
Barrister Dr Laura Byrne, representing Kinsella, said the impact of heroin on the accused were apparent.
“He told me this morning he is an example of what not to do in life,” Dr Byrne stated.
The court heard that Kinsella moved back to Dublin in 2021 and resides with his sister.
Judge Eoin Garavan said this was a case where the “addiction is greater than the criminality". The judge handed down a two-year suspended prison sentence.
