News
Heroin dealer ‘catapulted’ by gang into Galway
Another Lithuanian drug dealer who was “catapulted” into Galway to sell heroin for a criminal gang, has been given the maximum sentence of six months for obstructing Gardai by swallowing bags of heroin as they went to search him.
Judge Mary Fahy said that Robert Turkovski (24), with an address at 21 Sylvan Avenue, Fairlands Park, Newcastle, was “just one more, catapulted into Galway to do the needful for someone else.”
The above rental address made headlines last week then Judge Fahy likened the house to a type of Lithuanian Embassy for known drug dealers.
Turkovski pleaded not guilty to obstructing Garda Noel McNulty at Riverside, Tuam Road, on January 19 last.
The accused had only been in Galway for two weeks and had already come to Garda attention during his first week here when he and another man were searched by Gardaí.
Nothing was found on them on that occasion, but the court heard evidence on Monday from Garda McNulty that on January 19, he and Garda Cathal Rodgers were carrying out surveillance at a known heroin-dealing area in Riverside when they observed Turkovski standing in a green area. He was being approached by known heroin users at the time.
Garda McNulty said he and Garda Rodgers approached Turkovski and told him they were Gardaí and wanted to search him.
Garda McNulty said he saw Turkovski place bags of heroin in his mouth. He refused to spit them out and swallowed them.
He said the accused became aggressive and resisted arrest and had to be pepper-sprayed before being taken to Galway Garda Station where he was subsequently charged.
He said Gardai were aware this particular area is used by well-known heroin users and that a Lithuanian drugs gang are operating in this area.
Garda Rodgers said he had stopped and searched Turkovski the week before and the accused knew very well he and Garda McNulty were Gardaí
Turkovski gave evidence with the aid of a Lithuanian interpreter that he was not aware the men who approached him were Gardaí. He denied he had placed anything in his mouth.
He claimed the Gardaí had used force to arrest him and he had gone to that area to buy some “weed” for himself but could not find the person he was looking for.
In reply to Insp Brendan Carroll, Turkovski denied he was a drug dealer and said he didn’t recognise Garda Rodgers because it was dark at the time and he had been pepper-sprayed in the eyes.
In reply to Judge Fahy, he said people in 21 Sylvan Avenue had given him a number and told him he could buy drugs in that area.
“Your address is 21 Sylvan Avenue. That is the address given in this court by all the people who appear in court for obstruction of Gardai and for the sale of drugs. Were you a tenant there?,” she asked.
“Not for long. I was only two weeks in Galway,” Turkovski replied through the interpreter.
Judge Fahy remarked: “That figures. Now he was in the city two weeks. He had been Dublin before that. Obviously, he is one of the ones catapulted into Galway do the needful for someone else. I do not accept his evidence. It doesn’t add up.” J
She convicted Turkovski and imposed the maximum six-month sentence for obstruction of a Garda.
Leave to appeal was granted on condition the accused provide a residential address to the State and give 48 hours’ notice of the proposed address and proposed independent surety. He is to stay away from the Riverside area and NUIG campus and all of its buildings and environs pending any such appeal.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
