Andrew Carey
A WIDOWER who avoided a prison sentence for drug dealing to take care of his four children has denied that he is using his children as a “human shield against the rigours of the law”.
Hugo Porter (41) of St Patrick Villas, Castleconnell, along with Alan Lysaght (40) from Scanlon Park, Castleconnell, were both convicted last October for the drug offences committed in June of 2011.
The men were arrested as they came to collect cannabis herb valued at €11,634 and cannabis resin valued at €6,064 that was hidden in a ditch in Castleconnell.
Lysaght was jailed for two years while Porter received a suspended sentence after Fianna Fail Justice spokesperson Niall Collins wrote a letter to the court on behalf of the convicted drug dealer outlining how his wife died tragically in January 2014 and left him as sole surviving parent for his four children.
Mr Collins later said that he regretted writing the letter given the controversy it caused.
This Tuesday, State solicitor Michael Murray moved a second Section 99 application to activate the suspended sentence within the last four weeks.
Just over eight weeks after receiving the suspended sentence for the drug offence, Porter was stopped by gardai driving his partner’s car.
It transpired from investigations that the father of four did not have insurance on January 4 of this year.
His defence counsel, Michael Collins told the court that Porter thought he had insurance cover after his partner believed he had been added to the policy as a named driver.
Porter was charged after it was found that he did not have insurance after he failed to disclose his previous road traffic convictions.
Moving the application before Limerick Circuit Court, Michael Murray said that Porter had four previous convictions for not having insurance, dangerous driving and drink driving.
He told the court that this was Porter’s second offence during the period of his suspended sentence but Judge John Hannan declined to invoke the sentence on November 17 last citing his family circumstances, but said that Porter was “skating on thin ice”.
Mr Murray said that it could be considered that Porter was “using his children as a human shield against he rigours of the law”.
Judge O’Donnell remarked that this was the case where a “letter from a political figure attracted a great deal of media attention”.
Mr Murray agreed but added that it was of little importance now.
Michael Collins said that his client and his partner thought they were driving under a bona fide insurance policy after making calls to make additions to the policy, but Mr Murray said that the State could not accept this.
“People getting insurance should not hide behind the the skirts of making calls and thinking that’s sufficient. Ignorance of the law is no excuse”.
Mr Collins said however, that Mr Porter is “acutely aware of the court’s previous indulgence and what happened in the break that he got over his family circumstances”.
Judge O’Donnell said that on this occasion he would give the benefit to Hugo Porter and not activate any part of the suspended sentence.
Hugo Porter was then remanded back to Limerick District Court for sentencing where he was fined €150 and banned from driving for 12 months.
