A DRUGS courier who was viciously assaulted a week after he admitted having €200,000 worth of heroin on him has avoided jail because of the severity of the brain injury he suffered in the attack.
Limerick Circuit Court Judge Carroll Moran said it would be wrong to send Brian Carberry (30) of Moran Drive, Drimnagh, Dublin, to prison because of his “unfortunate mental health”.
He pleaded guilty to possession of the heroin at Ballycummin, Dooradoyle, Limerick, on April 4th 2008. Ten days after he entered the guilty plea at Limerick Circuit Court in December 2008, he was found lying by the side of the road in Dublin after being viciously assaulted.
At his sentencing hearing yesterday, evidence was heard that he suffered an extensive brain injury in the attack and is incapable of independent living since.
Evidence was heard that the cocaine addict had travelled by taxi from Dublin to Limerick in April 2008 with the heroin in the boot of the car.
In his evidence Detective Garda Pat Whelan said he had acted as courier for a man referred to in court as “Mr X” and that he was to receive one ounce of cocaine as payment for his role in the operation.
Defence counsel Andrew Sexton described the case as “tragic” and said his client was both a perpetrator and a victim who has never recovered from the injuries he suffered in the “vicious” assault.
In a medical report prepared for the court, consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Stephen Monks, of the Central Mental Hospital, described the accused as a “vulnerable individual” who would not be able to live in prison.
Before imposing sentence Judge Moran said it was as “exceptional a case as you could get”.
He imposed a four year suspended jail sentence, which he suspended for four years.