Heroin dealer caught red-handed by Gardaí in patrol car

A chronic heroin addict and dealer who smokes the drug every day he can afford to, was caught red-handed cycling his bike with six ‘deals’ of heroin held tightly in his fist.

On another occasion, Alan Murphy (45), of 43 St James Crescent, Mervue, flushed the drug away when Gardaí called to his home to carry out a drugs search.

Murphy denied having the heroin for sale or supply to others at Dublin Road, Galway on September 9, 2017.

He also denied a separate charge of obstructing Gardaí from the Divisional Drugs Unit who called to his home in Mervue to carry out a drugs search on February 14 last year.

Garda PJ Noone gave evidence at the contested hearing at Galway District Court last week that he was driving a patrol car, accompanied by Sergeant Peter McGuinness and Garda Sheena Gill, when they noticed Murphy on a bicycle stopped at traffic lights near the Bon Secours Hospital.

He said Murphy was a known heroin user and he let down the driver’s window while they were stopped at a red light to speak to him.

Garda Noone said he noticed Murphy was holding something tightly in his clenched fist. He asked him to open his fist and Murphy complied revealing six small bags of heroin ‘deals’.

Murphy told Gardaí the drugs were for his own use.  He said he had just bought them for €160 from a person five minutes before he was stopped.

Defence solicitor, Sean Acton, said the Gardaí in the car knew his client well and he had made no attempt to cycle away and had handed over what he had in his fist.

“He is a known, chronic drug-user and he’s making no bones about that and unfortunately, he is still a user,” Mr Acton said of his client.

Garda Noone said he believed Murphy was a heroin dealer in the Mervue area.  Noting Murphy had been cycling in the opposite direction from where he lived, he said it was his opinion that Murphy was holding drugs in his fist as he cycled around selling the drug.

“Six bags is too much heroin for one person’s use.  A normal user would use one bag per day but having six bags is too much,” Garda Noone added.

Mr Acton said Murphy bought the heroin in bulk for €160 as it worked out cheaper that way and he smoked a bag a day.

He said Murphy was getting €191 dole every week and spent it on heroin.

Murphy told Judge Mary Fahy he had been smoking heroin “on and off” for the last 15 years or so. He said the six bags he had just bought would last him the week and were for himself.

He said he smoked the heroin at home and was on the way to the shop to buy cigarettes at the time the Gardai stopped him.

“I smoke a bag of heroin a day if I have the money for it. A bag costs €25,” Murphy said from the witness box.

In a separate incident, which occurred on January 15 last year, Garda PJ Noone said he went with the same colleagues to carry out a drugs search at Murphy’s home in Mervue. He knocked on the door and after a while Murphy came down stairs and opened the sitting room window.

Garda Noone said he told him he had a warrant to search the house.  He said Murphy pushed him back from the window and ran out of the room.

Garda Noone and Garda Gill climbed in the window and ran upstairs to Murphy’s bedroom. He wasn’t there.

Then they heard a toilet flushing downstairs and when they went down, they saw Murphy coming out of the toilet.

Garda Noone said he believed Murphy had flushed drugs down the toilet.  They were never recovered.

Judge Mary Fahy convicted Murphy of both offences.

She said one would always have sympathy for an addict, but people who were dealing drugs were rendering other people addicts.

“There is no reason why he can’t rehabilitate. There’s no reason for him to carry on in this trade, peddling death,” Judge Fahy said.

She sentenced Murphy to six months in prison for having the heroin for sale to others and she imposed a consecutive five-month term for obstructing Gardai during the drugs search at his home.  Leave to appeal the sentences was granted.