A court has heard that a young garda’s promising career went up in smoke after being found with two bags of cocaine in Killarney.
26-year-old Shane O’Sullivan of Banard, Gneeveguilla, Rathmore, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of cocaine for sale or supply on February 6th 2023 in Killarney.
Mr O’Sullivan was a probationary garda at the time of the offence.
On February 6th 2023 at 3:20am, Inspector garda Eoin Donovan and another garda were on patrol in Killarney and observed two males acting suspiciously.
They conducted a drugs search, and found two deal bags of white powder on Shane O’Sullivan’s person.
Further searches were conducted and Mr O’Sullivan admitted to ownership of the powder and that it was cocaine.
Electronic communication on his phone showed he had paid a third party on the mobile banking app Revolut to source cocaine, which he himself was to provide to a friend down the line.
Mr O’Sullivan’s solicitor, Pádraig O’Connell, said this was a matter of extreme distress for his client’s entire family.
He said his client was a probationary garda at the time and he immediately resigned from his position, but he is currently in employment and involved in his community.
Mr O’Connell said this was an error and was at the very lowest level of offending under Section 15, possession of drugs for sale or supply.
A promising career went up in smoke, Mr O’Connell said.
Mr O’Connell asked the judge to leave his client without a conviction, as he was employed and would wish to go abroad.
Judge David Waters said that this man was a garda could not be considered minor, and was an aggravating factor.
Judge Waters took into account that he pleaded guilty and that he had no previous, and then convicted Mr O’Sullivan and fined him €400.