MAN GETS SEVEN YEARS FOR ECSTASY WORTH POUNDS 400,000

A man was jailed for seven years and his girlfriend given a five-year
suspended sentence for having pounds 400,000 worth of ecstasy tablets in
her car. Paul O'Reilly (40), Tonlegee Road, Edenmore, Dublin, and Karen
O'Neill (28), Elm Mount Road, Beaumont, Dublin, admitted possessing the drug.

Det Garda Cormac Brennan said O'Reilly's girlfriend had been stopped by a
Garda surveillance team. Her car was searched and 40,000 ecstasy tablets
found on the floor.

O'Neill had made a full admission following arrest. O'Reilly had voluntarily
gone to the gardai and had admitted his involvement in distributing drugs.
He had told the gardai O'Neill had been collecting the drugs for him.

Mr Fergal Foley, counsel for O'Neill, told Judge Elizabeth Dunne that the
girl had not been a main mover and had acted at her boyfriend's request. Mr
Michael O'Higgins, counsel for O'Reilly, a father of four, said his client
had been a serious drug addict for eight years.

The judge said she took into consideration the fact that both had pleaded
guilty. O'Neill had not been the main mover and had thought the quantity of
drugs had been much smaller. She considered O'Reilly's role far more
serious. While not the main profit-maker, he had played an important role in
the distribution of drugs. She suspended the last two years of his sentence.