An aspiring DJ found concealing heroin in his buttocks in a Garda station has been given a suspended jail term of two and a half years.
Judge Karen O'Connor said she was giving Mark Sorahan (44) one last chance at rehabilitation.
Sorahan of Ferrycarrig Drive, Coolock, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of heroin for sale or supply and obstruction of a garda in the course of a search at Priorswood Road, Priorswood on March 16, 2018.
Sorahan told gardaí he had bought the drugs in an effort to make money to fund repairs to his girlfriend’s car.
Sergeant Killian Leydon told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that he observed Sorahan, who was driving a van, conduct a suspected drugs transaction with a man standing on the side of the road.
Sgt Leydon said he brought Sorahan over to the patrol car to conduct a search. After he found a lump in one of Sorahan’s socks, Sorahan broke free from his grip and ran away.
He caught up with Sorahan a few metres down the road. During a further search two packages were recovered, including one found “within his buttocks”.
Both packages contained heroin, with a total estimated street value of €1,497. Sorahan took responsibility for the drugs and was co-operative with gardaí.
He told gardaí he just wanted a normal life and that music was what he as really interested in.
Sorahan said his girlfriend’s car needed parts and this was his route to get money to get the parts. He has 113 previous convictions,
Luigi Rea, defending, said Sorahan had recently completed a course in music production and was trying to get work as a DJ. He said Sorahan was now living a very different life than he had previously and was actively taking steps to take a different route in life.
He said Sorahan should have known better as the people who would have been buying the drugs from him would be in the position his client was in years ago when he had been addicted to drugs.
Suspending his sentence for two and a half years, the judges said he had engaged in “unacceptable behaviour.”
She added: “You are a person who will either mend his ways or you will spend considerable time in prison”. Sorahan was also given a suspended jail sentence of five months for obstructing gardaí in relation to the same incident.