*Harry Dinan
THE convicted killer of a Lissycasey school teacher has been jailed for five years and two months for drug dealing.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford imposed a 62 month prison term as part of a number of concurrent sentences on Harry Dinan (44) formerly of Oakwood Drive, Ennis for having in his possession a total of €50,106 of cannabis and cocaine with intent to supply at locations in Ennis on November 14th 2022.
The drug dealing sentence is two months more than the five years in jail Mr Dinan initially received at Ennis Circuit Court in 2010 for the manslaughter of Lissycasey school teacher, Brian Casey (26) on December 26th 2009.
That court heard that in an unprovoked assault, Mr Dinan struck Mr Casey “a haymaker” on St Stephen’s night in O’Connell Square, Ennis and the blow broke Mr Casey’s jaw in two places. The Lissycasey man hit the ground with the back of his head and Mr Casey never regained consciousness and died two days later.
The DPP appealed the undue leniency of the sentence and the Court of Criminal Appeal increased Mr Dinan’s prison term by two years.
Coincidentally, the jailing of Mr Dinan for drug dealing at Ennis Circuit Court comes ahead of Lissycasey GAA this coming Sunday (July 13th) planning to honour the memory of Brian Casey and other deceased members of the club’s 2007 Clare Senior Football Championship-winning team with the unveiling of a memorial plaque at the club grounds.
Detective Garda Aoife O’Malley told Ennis Circuit Court that the Drugs Unit of the Clare Garda Division had targeted Harry Dinan and witnessed him attend a secluded area of Ballybeg Woods on the western outskirts of Ennis on November 14th 2022.
Det O’Malley said that after Mr Dinan exited from the woods, an unmarked Garda car gave chase and whilst driving at high speed, a package was thrown from the passenger window of Mr Dinan’s car and it was later found to be cannabis worth €4,970.
Det Garda O’Malley said that Mr Dinan’s car eventually came to a stop at a roundabout at Ennis National School as school had just finished and traffic was heavy.
Det Garda O’Malley said that Mr Dinan’s ex-partner and then five year old son were in the car at the time.
Det Garda O’Malley said that Mr Dinan was arrested and Gardaí recovered a tick-list from a note on Mr Dinan’s phone which showed that he was owed €16,215 for drugs.
She said that a search of his home found drug dealing paraphernalia including baggies and scales and money totalling €2,365 including €500 that was found on Mr Dinan earlier.
Det Garda O’Malley said that the drugs recovered from Ballybeg Woods totalled €18,882 which was subject to the 62 month prison term for the Section 15 (a) drugs offence being drugs valued in excess of €13,000.
She said that the value of all the drugs removed from Mr Dinan’s house, car and the location in Ballybeg Woods totalled €46,606 in cannabis and €3,500 in cocaine resulting in the overall total of €50,106.
Det Garda O’Malley said that the accused has 82 previous convictions including 54 for road traffic offences.
She said that Dinan has six previous convictions for the sale and supply of drugs and is a father of three.
Counsel for Mr Dinan, Patrick Whyms BL (instructed by solicitor, Tara Godfrey) said that his client has no trappings of wealth and was dealing drugs to feed his cocaine addiction.
He said that Mr Dinan is quite entrepreneurial and was in the process of setting up a ‘bouncy castle’ business at the time of his arrest.
Judge Comerford said that there was no evidence that Mr Dinan was involved at high levels in a criminal operation but he wasn’t at the lowest level.
