A former soldier and mother of one, in jail since November 18 for possession with intent to supply €3,000 of heroin, was given an additional 10 months in jail this week (March 29 ) after being found guilty of dealing by bicycle.
Louise McCarthy (26 ), of Grotto View, Battery Heights, Athlone was returned to a special sitting of the District Court from the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy to plead guilty to a charge of dealing heroin on January 28, 2009.
The court heard from Detective Garda Mark T Lucas that, following a surveillance operation on Connaught Street by the local drug unit on that date, the defendant was seen cycling down from Battery Heights and handing over three bags of heroin worth €75 to a man. Both were arrested.
McCarthy, who has 34 previous convictions, was originally sentenced to 11 months last July 8 for the posession of €3,000 of heroin with intent to supply, but had it adjourned until November 18 to await a probation report on her addiction. However, on that date McCarthy was sent down for the 11 month sentence and had an additional 11 month sentence imposed to run concurrently after a doctor's letter she forged declaring herself to be drug-free, was contradicted by the probation report in which she admitted to still smoking heroin.
In court this week her solicitor, Mr Tony McLynn, told Judge David Anderson that his client was a mother of one and had “developed a heroin addiction in her mid twenties and found herself in difficulty with this but she would be on the lower rung of that ladder”.
On her present sentence McCarthy was expecting release on remission before the end of July and claimed she was doing well on the methadone programme in Dócha, having lowered her prescription from 100ml to 20ml.
“It has been significantly reduced,” said Mr McLynn who handed in a legitimate doctor’s letter to support this, but the judge was not impressed and gave McCarthy an additional 10 months in prison.
He set bail at €100 for the defendant, wiith an independent surety of €2,000.
McCarthy was previously convicted in February 2006 for dealing ecstasy out of an apartment opposite Athlone Garda Station and lost her job as a soldier on account of this.
