Man who left bag of heroin behind in Garda car is jailed

A father-of-one who left behind a bag of heroin in a Garda patrol car while en-route to the station for questioning has been jailed for 18 months.

Ross Gleeson (29) was arrested after he was spotted by gardaí­ getting into a car that had been under surveillance as part of a drugs operation in the Crumlin area of Dublin called Operation Creeper.

He was placed into a Garda car and taken to Sundrive Garda station to be searched. It was on arrival at the station that over 34 grammes of heroin, worth €5,250 and bagged into individual street deals, was found in the foot-well of the car.

Gleeson of Stanaway Road, Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply on October 24th, 2014.

His 31 previous convictions were mostly for road traffic offences but he was also due to be sentenced on Tuesday in the District Court after he pleaded guilty to having €1,500 worth of heroin on November 26th 2014.

Garda Eoin Kane told Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that although Gleeson took responsibility for the heroin in his first interview, he was detained at the station and questioned “over a number of days”.

He told gardaí it had been his intention to sell the drugs and admitted that he had bagged them in his mother’s kitchen.

Judge Martin Nolan said it was obvious that Gleeson had purchased the drugs and was going to sell them for a profit.

He accepted he had made admissions and had a good work history but he said he had a significant record of conviction.

Karl Moran BL, defending, told Judge Nolan that Gleeson had worked for a time as a hospital porter having abandoned a plumbing apprenticeship. He went to Australia in search of a work for year and felt he had no prospects when he returned to Ireland.

Mr Moran said Gleeson, who has a two year old daughter, was then offered this chance to sell drugs and he made “a foolish decision” to begin dealing.