Louth drug dealer turned chef spared imprisonment
The defendant's house was searched on May 1, 2020, and in a bedroom officers located cocaine valued €5,747 and cannabis worth €155 as well as €445 cash and a phone with messages indicating drug dealing.
It was noted during a sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court that the defendant had been given a two-year suspended term for a similar Section 15 drugs offence which occurred on March 8, 2021, but that there had been no trouble since.
Mr. Maher was assessed by the Probation Service as at low risk of reoffending.
He had submitted 10 clear urinalysis results and was drug-free.
He was working as a chef in a restaurant in Duleek having worked his way up from a kitchen porter and lived with his partner and her two children.
The defendant had moved away from a former negative peer group, and engaged well with the Probation Service.
Judge Hayes noted that he had not come to adverse garda attention for over four years and had turned his life around.
As serious as this case was it was not one which required immediate imprisonment.
A three-and-a-half year sentence was suspended for three-and-a-half years.
Orders were made for the destruction of the drugs and forfeiture of the cash.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Ailbhe Griffith: Meeting the man who assaulted me gave me back my power — don't deny other survivors the same right
I know the power of restorative justice so was devastated to see a Spanish woman's request for it being turned down by the Probation Service Today at 00:30 When I read recent news reports about a Spanish woman's request for a restorative justice meeting with the man who raped her on a Dublin city centre street, I was delighted. Having gone through the same process myself, I knew how life-changing it can be. Imagine my disappointment, then, when the court was told that, even though the attacker agreed to meet the woman, the court was told by the Probation Service that this could not happen. The reason? He did not accept full responsibility for his crime.
Irish Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Notorious double rapist Simon McGinley vanishes after his release from prison
Notorious double rapist Simon McGinley has vanished following his release from prison - and has failed to check in with gardai in recent weeks as required, we can exclusively reveal. This is now leading to fears for the safety of women. Evil Simon McGinley, 52, walked free from the Midlands Prison at the end of June after completing a sentence he received last year for breaching the conditions of the Sex Offenders Act. The sicko sex fiend, who is subject to garda monitoring since his release from prison as he has been described as a dangerous individual, was in behind bars since August 2023 after he was sentenced at Dundalk Circuit Court for the breaches. As part of his release conditions, he is under the supervision of the Probation Service for the next 12 years. He has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life. But sources tell us that he has gone off the garda radar in the past few weeks - and a summons has been obtained by gardai to bring him back to court. 'He hasn't been seen by gardai nor the Probation Services in the past few weeks which is a huge worry as he is required to check in with gardai and the Probation Services as part of the conditions of the Sex Offenders Act,' a source said, adding: 'He's basically on the loose as no-one in authority knows where he is now based.' At the beginning of July Irish Mirror managed to photograph McGinley out and about for the first time after his release from prison after we tracked him down in Dundalk, Co Louth. Our exclusive photos showed the cowardly double rapist, dressed in a striped t-shirt, a grey zip up jumper and black trousers and carrying a mobile phone and blue disposable vape last month. Simon McGinley pictured on a mobile phone (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin) Simon McGinley gets out of the back of a white, UK-registered van in Dundalk (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin) In October 2022 the sex beast was released from Arbour Hill Prison, having served 13 years behind bars of an overall 21-year sentence for the brutal and shocking rape of an 85-year-old woman in her Co Monaghan home in 2008. A drunken McGinley had broken into the elderly woman's home and raped her repeatedly during the night and put his hand over her mouth. The elderly woman had been unfit to give evidence during the trial due to worsening dementia. But, a statement she had given at a previous district court hearing was read to the jury. The evil rapist was previously sentenced to 12 years in 1998 after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl in August 1997 — in a controversy known as the 'C Case.' The young girl at the centre of the infamous 'C Case' against him was involved in a legal battle over whether she was allowed to travel to the UK to have an abortion. Speaking out in 2009, the victim told RTE Radio how the brutal attack left her pregnant and forced her into a succession of care homes and caught at the centre of an infamous legal battle over her right to have an abortion. 'He ruined my life and I am still coming to terms with that. My life is destroyed,' said the woman. 'I never got schooling or anything like that. I don't know how many times I tried to kill myself but I have a little five-year-old son now so he keeps me going.' Dangerous rapist McGinley has also previously been compared to infamous beast Larry Murphy and is considered a highly volatile sexual predator. And he was once deemed a person of interest in the case of missing JoJo Dullard. During his trial in 2009 for the rape of the elderly woman, Mr Justice Birmingham said he could find no mitigating circumstances. 'Rape is always a serious offence but within the spectrum of rapes this, in my view, is at the top of the upper end. This case is just about as bad as it gets,' he said. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here
Irish Independent
06-08-2025
- Irish Independent
Woman avoids jail for violent disorder incident at Louth shop
Karen Woods, McCooey Terrace, Clogherhead, Co. Louth, was sentenced to 150 hours unpaid work in the community in lieu of 18 months' imprisonment. She had pleaded guilty to the offence which occurred at Londis, Castletown Road, Dundalk, on July 2, 2022. Judge Dara Hayes said that she was least culpable of the four people involved. A previous sentence hearing at the circuit court heard from Gda David Woods who said that the parties, the defendant and three men, entered the shop at different times. There was bad blood between two of the males. One swung a bottle of beer. A fight started and continued outside. When it broke up, Ms Woods left with one of the men whom she was going out with at the time. Her actions were mostly outside the premises. Investigators were able to identify each accused from 'good quality' CCTV. Nome of the people involved made complaints to gardaí. This defendant had four previous convictions for drugs offences. Cross-examined by barrister Ronan O'Carroll, instructed by solicitor Fergal Boyle, Gda Woods said it was agreed from her then boyfriend's statement that she was trying to stop the incident. He was sorry for dragging her into it. ADVERTISEMENT Mr O'Carroll submitted that she went from peacekeeper to defender to offender in a short space of time. Ms Woods kicked one man when she wasn't even wearing shoes. She got caught up in the affairs of others. She was a carer and worked 'above and beyond' during Covid-19. She lost her job because of the offending. The mother of one had stopped drugs. Judge Hayes said that customers were present in the shop and what occurred was a frightening experience and upsetting for them. Karen Woods' involvement began as an attempt to intervene. She had not come to garda attention since. The judge said she was the least culpable of the four defendants. In lieu of 18 months imprisonment, she was directed to complete 150 hours' community service within 12 months.
