Air-con engineer sentenced to two years for holding drugs and cash at parents' home

Irish Times

15-05-2025

An air conditioning engineer has been jailed for two years for holding half a million euro worth of drugs in his parents' house while they were away in order to pay off a €4,000 drug debt.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told by defence counsel that Dylan Pennie (34) had had his best night's sleep for some time on the night the drugs were discovered because 'it was now all over'.
Pennie, of Newbury Avenue, Clonshaugh, Coolock, pleaded guilty to the possession of €575,000 worth of drugs at that address on May 5th, 2024. The father-of-three also pleaded guilty to laundering €52,320, the proceeds of criminal conduct, on the same occasion.
Garda Enda O'Reilly of Coolock Garda station told the court the drugs comprised mainly cannabis, but also included cocaine, ketamine, MDMA and benzodiazepine.
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Most were found in the eaves of a converted attic in the house, with a smaller amount in a golf bag in a shed, after gardaí obtained a warrant to search the home. The cash was found during the same search.
Garda O'Reilly said the owners of the house, Pennie's parents, had opened the door to gardaí, and it was they who were arrested and taken to the Garda station once the haul was discovered.
The defendant returned home soon afterwards and took responsibility for everything that had been found, but said the drugs were not his.
He told gardaí he had built up a small drug debt of €4,000 and had been told to hold the drugs and cash. He said he did not know how much cash he was holding. He had no previous convictions.
Under cross-examination by Paul Murray SC, defending, Garda O'Reilly accepted that Pennie had a drug debt at the time. He agreed that a drugs debt leads to pressure and consequences, that people are not 'asked' to hold drugs but are 'told' to do so.
Gardaí had asked Pennie in interview: 'How did you feel the last weeks that you had it?' Pennie had said he was under stress and could not sleep.
He was also asked whether he could tell them who he was holding the drugs and cash for. 'I can't answer, for my family,' he said. 'I can't take a chance.'
Mr Murray said his client had asked him to offer his unreserved apology, remorse and regret to the court, society at large and his family and friends, who had attended court to support him.
'Unfortunately, he fell foul of a problem with drugs, such that he ended up here, having been pressurised to hold the drugs and money,' he said. 'He knows it's entirely his own fault he started on drugs in the first place. He knows how much he has let so many people down and he ends up here, to his eternal shame.'
Counsel handed in a number of documents, including reports to show his client was now clear of drugs, after fully engaging with drug rehabilitation following the raid. His client felt an immense amount of guilt for putting his family and children through this, explained Mr Murray.
He also handed in letters from Pennie's family, including from some who described him as the rock of the family, and from others, who thought there had been a mistake when they heard the news of the Garda search. His client had already spent some time in custody, and this had had an impact on his family, counsel.
Other letters spoke of the huge stress Pennie had been under at the time.
'He said the best night's sleep he had for some time was the night of the find, because it was now all over,' said Mr Murray.
Counsel explained that a family member had paid off the drug debt, which had not remained at €4,000 but had risen, and that this family member was being repaid.
He asked the court to depart from the minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, as there were specific and exceptional circumstances, including his client's plea and co-operation.
'He's a man with no convictions, who stupidly built up a drugs debt, and has let down his family, those who rely on him, those who support him,' he said. 'He wasn't in it for gain. It was to pay off a debt. If he didn't do what he was told, Garda O'Reilly has conceded there would have been consequences.'
He also asked the court to consider this as one of those exceptional cases where the court can take a 'certain course of action'.
Judge Martina Baxter said she accepted she was being asked to impose a fully suspended sentence, but said that only in very rare cases could this happen.
'There have to be consequences,' she said.
However, she said there were factors in this case where she could depart from the mandatory minimum.
She imposed a sentence of four years and suspended the final two years on a number of conditions.
Family members sobbed as Pennie stood to enter the bond before beginning his sentence.