A pensioner who imported £150,000 worth of heroin has been given an eight-year suspended sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Judge Kieran O'Connor told Joseph Freer (76) he was "a very silly old man" for carrying the heroin for a major Dublin drug dealer.
Freer, of Ellis Court, Benburb Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty to having the drugs in the Smithfield area of Dublin on September 20th, 1997. Det Sgt Larry Morrison told Mr Adrian Mannering, prosecuting, that Freer was spotted going into a local bar with the drugs.
When taken to a Garda station, he admitted meeting "two cockneys" in London on behalf on a Dublin drug dealer. Freer was paid £250 for bringing the heroin by ferry to Dublin. He used the money to pay his gas and ESB bills.
Judge O'Connor said that, given the unusual nature of the case, and the fact that Freer had spent six months on remand in Mountjoy Prison, he would impose an eight-year suspended sentence.