A two month prison sentence, suspended for two years, has been imposed on a man who had almost €700 worth of cocaine in his home.
Judge Seamus Hughes expressed serious concerns that the four children in the house could have access to cocaine, especially if the owner was high and forgot to put his “paraphernalia” away.
“What if they accidentally consume it?” he asked Paul Cox, previously of Belvedere Hills and now with an address at Dunawley Grove, Clondalkin in Dublin.
The 29-year-old said he kept the cocaine hidden, but it was located by gardaí who came to search the house on August 16, 2010.
They also found a single cannabis plant.
Cox, who has six previous convictions for public order, drink driving, and weapons offences, would have been an ideal candidate for the judge’s walled garden project and solicitor Patricia Cronin said her client would be more than willing to do such work.
However, the garden is not up and running and the judge decided community service was not appropriate for the man who said he had moved back to Dublin to provide a better life for his children.
Cox, who split from his then partner, sees his children regularly and is not working.
The cocaine was “cheap” at €200, he said, but the court heard he is no longer using drugs and would complete urinalysis if required.
Judge Hughes imposed two month sentences for the drug possession and cultivation charges and suspended them both for two years.
