The case against a 27 year-old mother of three accused of passing drugs onto a man by kissing him was this week dismissed.
Judge William Harnett told Castlecomer District Court on Monday that he was dismissing the case due to an ‘absence of evidence.’ Suzanne Dowling of 19 Church Avenue, Castlecomer was alleged to have passed two wraps of suspected heroin to a prisoner who was attending Castlecomer District Court on April 19, 2007.
Her solicitor Mr Michael Lanigan claimed that there was insufficient evidence as to identify his client as being the person who passed the drugs to the prisoner. Supt Pat Mangan told the court that the prison officer John Howlin had given evidence identifying a woman known as Ms Dowling as the woman who kissed the prisoner on the lips.
However, Judge Harnett noted that given the circumstances evidence should have been given regarding the observation of the prisoner at the point of arrival at the court, prior to entering the court that day. And in the absence of evidence he said he was dismissing the case.
Ms Dowling also appeared before the court on a separate charge of assaulting countycouncil official Jim Ryan at her home on April 22 last year and received a three month jail sentence for the offence.
Inspector Aidan Brennan told the court that the council official visited the defendant’s home to serve her notice. He said that when the official arrived at the defendant’s house an altercation took place with the defendant ‘verbally assaulting’ and ‘kicking the official out the door.’ The court heard that the victim sustained no injuries in the attack.
Apologising for his client’s behaviour Dowling’s solicitor Michael Lanigan told Judge William Harnett that his client had a long standing heroin problem. He said that she had been accepted into a methadone programme in Carlow and had made progress in her efforts to stay off drugs.
Judge Harnett said that the defendant had no excuse for her behaviour and observed that in kicking the council official she had ‘lashed out at the most convenient and available target.’ Upon sentencing the defendant to three months in prison Judge Harnett remarked that Dowling had ‘been dealt with in a lenient fashion.’
Judge Harnett also convicted the defendant of a number of road traffic offences which occurred at Church Avenue, Castlecomer on February 16, 2007 and at Killeshin Road, Carlow on June 2007. Judge Harnett fined her €2,150 and disqualified her from holding a driving licence for six years for driving without insurance, driving while disqualified, driving without a valid driving licence, having no insurance, speeding, non-display of a disc and to having no NCT cert.
