Limerick man caught with €34k drugs in attic gets a suspended sentence

A MAN “with a history of community involvement” who was found with almost €35,000 worth of drugs in his attic at Patrickswell has been given a fully suspended sentence of three years.

Limerick Circuit Court judge Colin Daly said in his sentencing that Kevin O’Connell, 52, was “social welfare dependent” and under “under some financial pressure at the time” of the offence.

The judge said that while Mr O’Connell’s offences “must be seen in the context of the scourge of illegal drugs” and his holding of the drugs “supports organised crime”, the man has a “good work record” and no previous convictions.

Mr O’Connell pleaded guilty to sale and supply of drugs, simple drugs possession, and the sale of supply of drugs over a value of €13,000.

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The sale and supply of drugs over €13,000 carries a presumptive mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, however, Judge Daly said that he would not apply this as “the accused’s role in this operation was at a very low level”.

The judge detailed that Mr O’Connell’s case was an exceptional circumstance, and that Mr O’Connell had never taken or sold drugs.

In his summation of Mr O’Connell’s offences, Judge Daly said that on February 20, 2025, gardaí received confidential information that led them to Mr O’Connell’s home in Patrickswell, Limerick.

At a previous evidence summary in the circuit court on February 3, 2026, it was heard that when gardaí arrived to search his home, Mr O’Connell directed them to his attic.

The gardaí found 1,732 grams of drugs in the attic of his home - which were distributed in 33 sealed bags.

Mr O’Connell told the gardaí that “he was only minding the drugs”.

State barrister John O’Sullivan told the court that the defendant would pick up the drugs from a car on the backroads. The man would mind the drugs for a period of five to six weeks, and he believed that he did this job five times. For the job he would be paid €100.

Mr O’Connell was asked to mind the drugs when he was at a local pitch and pub.

The man’s defence, barrister Mark Nicholas, previously told the circuit court “the ask is designed to get under your skin”, and that “he couldn’t refuse these people”.

Mr O’Connell told gardaí in an interview that those who asked him to mind the drugs would have known he was in financial difficulty, and said that “word gets around in a small village”.

The judge passed down a sentence of three years’ imprisonment, which was fully suspended for three years on the condition that Mr O’Connell keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

-Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme