Man found with more than €4,000 worth of drugs in his Kilkenny home is jailed by local court

Drugs worth more than €4,000 were found when gardaí searched a home in Rosbercon, resulting in a man being convicted of drugs offences at Kilkenny District Court.

Patrick Kelly, 6 Ashgrove, Castlehyde Park, Rosbercon, Co Kilkenny, pleaded guilty to two charges of being in illegal possession of drugs and two charges of having drugs for sale or supply, at his home address on August 3, 2022.

Sergeant Morgan O’Connor said a search warrant was obtained for the house. When gardaí arrived at the house they spoke to a female. With her in the house was her partner and his brother - the defendant.

During the garda search they found two 100g bars of cannabis resin and some cannabis herb. There was also a ‘tick list’ with 39 names and amounts adding up to €22,800.
The cannabis resin was valued at €1,170 and the cannabis herb valued at €3,060.

Mr Kelly had 40 previous convictions, the sergeants said, including four for being in possession of drugs.

Solicitor Chris Hogan said his client said the ticklist had been found in his brother’s bag and it was not in his writing.
There were three adults in the house and the drugs were found in a communal area, the solicitor added. Originally there were no admissions but when gardaí ‘threatened to arrest everyone’ Mr Kelly admitted the items were his, Mr Hogan said.

Four or five months prior to this his client’s relationship had broken down, the solicitor said. He was estranged from his children.
Mr Kelly’s drug use became “problematic” and he built up a “huge drug debt,” Mr Hogan said. The majority of that debt has been paid back with the help of his family.
His client was not working at the time but is working now, Mr Hogan said.

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Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted Mr Kelly on all charges. She said community service was not an appropriate sentence in this case.
A conviction for having drugs for sale or supply has to be dealt with very seriously by the court, the judge said, because of the knock-on effects on the defendant’s behaviour and on society.

A custodial sentence was warranted, she said, imposing a jail term of seven months on one of the convictions for having drugs for sale or supply. The other three charges were taken into consideration.
Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.