*Ennis Courthouse
A JUDGE has jailed a 45 year old father of two for three years and four months after Gardai swooped on a property in east Clare to find over €200,000 worth of cocaine in the boot of a 20 year old BMW car.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford has imposed a 48-month prison term with the final eight months suspended on Alan King of San Giovanni, Callahy, Tuamgraney, Co Clare.
Judge Comerford said that he will also give credit for four months served in prison on remand by Mr King before he was able to take up High Court bail.
In the case, Mr King pleaded guilty to having in his possession cocaine with a market value in excess of €13,000 for the purpose of selling or supplying at his address on June 28th 2025 at his Tuamgraney address.
Judge Comerford said that the high value of the €208,222 worth of cocaine wrapped in three covered bricks of cocaine was an aggravating factor in the case.
Det Garda David Laing said that at interview, Mr King said that he didn’t own the cocaine discovered in the boot of the BMW and was minding it for someone else to cover a drugs debt.
Judge Comerford said that he accepted that Mr King was storing the drugs for someone as opposed to someone who is part and parcel of a criminal operation.
Judge Comerford said that it is very difficult for Alan King to say he was just an innocent dupe who was under pressure because of drug debt in circumstances where there were weighing scales in close proximity.
He said that there are objective signs that Mr King “was a low level cannabis dealer”.
Judge Comerford said that text messages showed that Mr King was not dealing cocaine to sell and was a middle man.
Judge Comerford said that he accepted Mr King had no trappings of wealth and was not making a lot of money out of drug dealing.
The judge said that Mr King had involved himself in serious criminal activity and “the greater value of the drugs and the more harm that they will do”
Judge Comerford said that Mr King had a drug debt that put him in a vulnerable position.
In sentencing, Judge Comerford said that he took into account Mr King’s guilty plea.
Mr King’s previous convictions date back to 15 years and ago are mainly road traffic offences including three for drink driving.
Det Garda David Laing said that Mr King is a native of Moyross, Limerick.
Counsel for Mr King, Brian McInerney SC (instructed by solicitor, Tara Godfrey) said that Mr King is the father of young children and resides at the Tuamgraney address with his partner who inherited the house.
Mr McInerney said that Mr King had the 2005 BMW left to him by a friend who died.
Mr McInerney pointed to a WhatsApp message to Mr King from a person who asked if he had any ‘white’ and Mr King replied ‘Na, bro, I don’t sell it’.
Mr McInerney said that at the time of arrest Mr King was in receipt of social welfare and is currently not in receipt of social welfare pointing out that his case was not referred to the Criminal Assets Bureau where there are no grounds to suspect that there were ill gotten gains.
Mr McInerney said that a significant mitigation in the case was the absence of serious criminal convictions for Mr King.
