“SHE was so much in love with this man that she is going to carry the can for him on this drugs charge. Is that what you are telling me?”
That was the response of a Judge Mary Larkin sitting at Limerick District Court when she heard details of a teenager who accepted responsibility for the possession of cannabis and with having €200 worth of cocaine for sale or supply to others.
The court was told that the girl had been in a relationship with a man at the time she was arrested last September.
Gardaí saw her sitting in a car outside a house on the northside of the city that was associated with drug distribution and sales. They drove around the estate and returned as the man emerged from the house and left in his car.
They followed the car and turned on the lights and siren signaling the driver to stop but he sped up and tried to escape.
The court heard that gardai observed “interaction” between the driver and the passenger and saw items being passed between them. When the car stopped, the young girl got out and immediately took responsibility for having the drugs.
The man was not before the court.
Defence solicitor John Herbert said that the girl does not take drugs, has no previous convictions and was no longer in the relationship with the man.
“She was so much in love with this man that she is going to carry the can for him on a drugs charge. Is that what you are telling me ?”, Judge Larkin asked.
“Well, yes Judge, that was the position then and well it is now…”
“Does your client realise that I normally send people to prison for section 15s (possession of drugs for sale or supply)?”, Judge Larkin asked before adjourning the case until April 7 asking that Probation Services provide a pre-sanction report for the court.
The girl was released on continuing bail.
