A 19-year-old Belfast woman who was persuaded by her "violent thug" of a boyfriend to carry £40,000 worth of cocaine through Dublin Airport has been given a three-year jail sentence.
Deirdre Rooney was released on bail, however, after Judge Frank O'Donnell at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court adjourned the sentence for one year.
Rooney, of Springbank Drive, Belfast, pleaded guilty to importing the cocaine on March 24th, 1998. She had been remanded in custody for the last month since pleading guilty.
Judge O'Donnell said he had to mark the seriousness of the crime by imposing a severe sentence but recognised that Rooney "was not exactly a free agent" because she was under the influence of her boyfriend.
"It is an unfortunate fact of life that couriers are usually very vulnerable people and because they carry the drugs they are an essential ingredient in this evil trade."
Customs and gardai were acting on confidential information when Rooney and her boyfriend were stopped and searched at Dublin Airport a year ago. The cocaine was found in her luggage and she also had a receipt for £3,340 sterling which had been converted to Dutch guilders to buy the drugs.
Sgt Seamus Boland told Mr Patrick Marrinan, prosecuting, that Rooney's boyfriend was a "violent thug" whose beatings caused her to have a miscarriage. He had persuaded her she would not be searched or charged with carrying cocaine.
Mr Michael O'Higgins, defending, said Rooney's boyfriend exercised "a Svengali influence" over her at the time, first with "the glamour approach" and then with physical assault. "She was in terror of him and this fear was absolutely justified."
Judge O'Donnell imposed the three-year sentence but adjourned it to March 22nd, 2000, on conditions that Rooney abide by the directions of the probation service and take part in a rehabilitation programme in November. She was also to reside with her aunt and not to change address except with the permission of the probation service.