Soldier jailed for 4 years over barracks cocaine seizure
A soldier who bagged and mixed thousands of euro of drugs in his room in a Cork army barracks as the building was a "safe haven" which was guarded "24 hours a day and 365 days a year," has been jailed for four years.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Shane Scanlon, 35, served in the Defence Forces for 18 years.
He reportedly became involved in drug dealing because of "financial pressures".
He resigned from the Defence Forces after he was caught with close to €27,000 worth of cocaine in a room he rented in Collins Barracks in Cork on 27 March 2024.
Dt Garda Derry O'Brien said that Scanlon of Cooline Heights, Ballyvoloon, Cobh, Co Cork was the sole occupant of the room.
In addition to cocaine, gardaí found €1,100 in cash and "numerous drug paraphernalia" including a blender used for mixing drugs, weighing scales and bags.
Gardaí found evidence of drug dealing on a phone owned by Scanlon with the offending behaviour going as far back as 2021.
A search was carried out at his home and €2,250 in cash was also recovered.
Scanlon made full admissions to gardaí upon his arrest. He also cooperated fully with the garda investigation.
Dt Gda O'Brien said that Scanlon was using the army barracks as a "safe haven" for storing drugs as "opposed to his house address in Cobh".
The father of three has two previous convictions for minor driving offences.
He has not come to the attention of gardaí since his arrest.
The drug dealing was carried out purely for monetary gain and there is no suggestion of drug addiction or a drug debt.
Defence barrister, Ray Boland, SC, said that his client had resigned from the Defence Forces after years of "otherwise exemplary service".
He asked Judge Dermot Sheehan to impose a fully suspended sentence in the case in light of certain family circumstances of the defendant.
He said that his client had suffered from homelessness in the past.
Mr Boland indicated that Scanlon was keenly aware of the "shame" his conduct brought on his unit.
"He is ashamed of that and remorseful. I would ask for his admissions and cooperation to be taken in to account.
"The amount (of cocaine) though considerable is at the lower end for Section 15A. This (offending behaviour) was done because he was under financial pressure," he said.
In sentencing, Judge Dermot Sheehan said that Scanlon had a lack of "victim awareness" and "empathy" for the real consequences of drugs on the citizens of Ireland.
He said that the accused was not just storing drugs in his room in the barracks but was "actively bagging and mixing the product for distribution onwards".
Judge Sheehan said that Scanlon was taking advantage of the fact that the barracks were "controlled with armed guards 24 hours a day and 365 days a year".
He said that Scanlon was not on the garda radar and only came to garda attention because they were contacted by the authorities in the barracks.
Describing what had occurred as an "extraordinary breach of trust", he jailed Scanlon for five years, suspending the last year of the sentence.
He cited the signed plea, the lack of relevant previous convictions, and the personal circumstances of the accused as factors in his decision to depart from the mandatory ten year sentence for a Section 15A offence.
Meanwhile, Scanlon previously pleaded guilty to being in possession of cocaine at Collins Barracks on Old Youghal Road in Cork the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to another, on 27 March 2024.
He also admitted having cocaine unlawfully in his possession for his own use on the same occasion.
Scanlon also pleaded guilty to money laundering in respect of €1,100 at Collins Barracks and another sum of €2,250 at his home in Cobh.
He also entered a guilty plea to being in possession of articles, namely a blender and weighing scales in circumstances giving rise to a "reasonable inference" that it was for the purpose of commission, preparation, facilitation or instigation of a drug-trafficking offence.
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