A YOUNG Jamaican who swallowed 40 packets of cocaine was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday.
Judge Olive Buttimer said that if it was an Irish person who was involved, the sentence would have been much harsher. The sentence is to date from the man's custody in February.
Verral Sarquharson (19), unemployed, of Marchpen Road, Spanish Town, Jamaica, was charged with having cocaine unlawfully in his possession on February 23rd last at Shannon Airport. He was also charged with possession of cocaine on the same date and place with the purpose of selling or supplying to others contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act. The accused pleaded guilty.
The judge said she regarded the charge as extremely serious, as cocaine had destroyed so many lives. The accused was only a "mule" in the case, bearing the drug "for those wrongly called drug barons. They should be described much less politely", he said.
She took into account that the accused had endangered his life by swallowing packets of the drug and - the fact he was in a strange land.
Mr Dermot McKeon BL, prosecuting, told the court how an American Airlines flight had been diverted to Shannon with a sick passenger, the accused, on board.
Sgt Kevin Moynihan said 40 packets of cocaine had been retrieved in hospital, including 21 which the accused had regurgitated. He was later arrested and the value of the cocaine estimated at £4,142.
In a statement the accused said a friend in Jamaica had asked him to swallow the packets of cocaine and take them to London. He was to get £5,000. At Heathrow he was questioned by immigration officials and found to have only £40 in his possession. He was ordered to be deported.
The accused, who lives in a very poor area, has a girlfriend and baby and he planned to go home to Jamaica. He told the court people with guns had visited his home looking far him.