Drug dealer released just four weeks into 18 month term due to prison overcrowding crisis
The Journal
has learned.
Multiple security and civil service sources have confirmed that a number of prisoners, including those suspected to be members of Organised Crime Groups, have been released.
Prison sources said that prisoners who have received sentences for non-violent offences, like cases associated with large drugs seizures, are being let out ahead of time.
The calculus used for the release of the prisoners is that they are not classified as a danger to society. The Department of Justice has claimed they are on 'temporary release' but the reality, according to multiple sources, is that these prisoners will remain free.
One of those prisoners is Stephanie Treacy from Limerick – she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her part in a drug dealing operation in the city's St Mary's Park, which is known locally as The Island Field or Kings Island.
She served just four weeks of that two year sentence before being released by prison authorities – both Garda and Prison Service sources have confirmed that it was due to measures to limit overcrowding.
Stephanie Treacy and her brother Owen Treacy, who was identified in court by gardaí as being involved in organised crime in the city, were arrested after a lengthy garda operation.
Owen Treacy has 140 previous convictions for a variety of offences and is a member of a well known family in the city. He and his sister were caught after a long-term garda covert surveillance operation.
Gardaí told
a Limerick court in April
that the Treacys and some associates accessed the roofs of houses on St Munchin's Street between 18 July and 2 August, 2019. They were placing and removing objects under roof tiles – the gardaí confirmed this was where their drugs were located.
On 2 August, 2019, Gardaí executed search warrants on three properties at St Munchin's Street, as well as an address associated with the Treacys at St Ita's Street. There they seized more than €32,000 in cash and cheques, as well as more than 100 drug deals that were ready for distribution.
The Treacys were placing the drugs inside the plastic toy holders found in Kinder Eggs before selling them on.
Owen Treacy Junior has recently been convicted of a threat to kill a Limerick based garda.
He got a three month sentence for that which would run consecutive to his three-and-a-half years for the Kinder Egg drugs scheme with Stephanie.
Advertisement
Owen Treacy will serve his sentence but his sister is out and free and back in Limerick City, having served a fraction of what the judge in the circuit court deemed appropriate.
Stephanie had received a three year headline sentence, with the final 18 months suspended.
A view of Limerick city looking up the Shannon towards Kings Island.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Overcrowding
The Journal
has previously reported that record-high levels of overcrowding inside Ireland's prisons
are increasing the risk of violence
, seeing incarcerated people
sleeping on the floor
and creating a
difficult working environment for staff
.
There is now a real risk that the Irish Prison Service
will not be able to transport all prisoners for court hearings, as overcrowding is putting pressure on staff to meet their escort abilities.
Director General of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey warned the Department of Justice in a letter last year that the system is at 'tipping point' in respect of its ability to carry out escorts to court and maintain safe staffing standards inside its facilities.
Her letter told the Department: 'Current levels of overcrowding are exacerbated by resource constraints due to ever-increasing demands for escorts.'
We asked the Irish Prison Service and the Department of Justice for comment on the release of prisoners and the specific case of Stephanie Treacy.
The Irish Prison Service said they do not comment on individual cases.
The Department of Justice classified the freeing of prisoners as 'temporary release'.
'The Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the Courts. As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.
'Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, officials in the Irish Prison Service make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured Temporary Release.
'The legislative basis for temporary release is set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003.
'Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made.'
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
105 motorcyclists killed on Irish roads since 2020, says RSA
A total of 105 motorcyclists were killed on Irish roads in the last five years, the Road Safety Authority has said. Additionally, 884 motorcyclists were seriously injured between 2020 and 2024, according to the RSA. 'The Motorcyclist Spotlight Report: Fatalities and Serious Injuries, 2020 to 2024' published by the RSA shows that the 105 motorcyclists that lost their lives accounted for 14% of all road fatalities, while the 884 seriously injured accounted for 12% of serious injuries. The data showed that there was an average of 21 motorcyclist fatalities and 177 serious injuries per year. Half of all motorcyclist fatalities took place at the weekend, while 40% of fatalities occurred between 1pm and 5pm, with another 10% between 8pm and 9pm. Based on Irish collision data, the report shows that young to middle-aged men remain the most vulnerable, with 65% of motorcyclist fatalities aged 16 - 45 and 100% of fatalities being male. RSA Director of Partnerships and External Affairs Sarah O'Connor said: "This report is a stark reminder of the human cost of road trauma and the acute risks motorcyclists face." The data also showed that 74% of motorcyclist deaths occurred on rural roads, with Dublin and Cork accounting for the highest numbers of both fatalities and serious injuries. It also showed that 27% of deaths happened at junctions and that 63% involved collisions with other vehicles. The vehicles most commonly involved in collisions with motorbikes were cars (59%) and light goods vehicles (13%). Serious injuries Serious injuries peaked between May and September, particularly in June (13%). The majority of serious injuries were male (93%) and 82% were aged 16–55. Two-thirds of serious injuries occurred between 12pm and 8pm, with Sunday the most dangerous day (22%). "Failure to observe" was identified as the most common contributory action in multi-vehicle collisions resulting in serious injuries. The RSA is calling on all road users to "increase vigilance", particularly during the summer months when serious motorcyclist injuries typically rise. "We must act now to reverse these figures. We all have a part to play in protecting the most vulnerable on our roads. We're urging drivers to take a second look before pulling out or turning – this is a life-saver look and we all need to build it into our every trip," Ms O'Connor said.


Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Gardaí urge public to be vigilant over latest eFlow scam texts
Gardaí are urging the public to be vigilant of an ongoing scam, which sees people receiving phoney texts from motorway toll operator eFlow. The latest iteration of these "smishing" scam texts sees the person targeted receive a message from "eFlow driving", informing them they have failed to pay a "radar ticket". The lengthy text then directs the target to pay this ticket by a particular date or risk having their vehicle registrations suspended, their driving licence suspended, and further charges levied against them. The message also includes a warning that failure to do so may result in prosecution and affect their credit score. The text also includes a hyperlink with a .icu domain name. Clicking on the link brings the target to a phoney website which imitates eElow's legitimate website, which contains a field in which the target is told to provide their card payment details. The Irish Examiner has seen a number of examples of such texts. In all instances, the sender's number appeared located outside of Ireland. The scam comes as thousands of hurling fans from Cork and Tipperary would have travelled through tolls for Sunday's All-Ireland final. A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána told the Irish Examiner it was aware of these "ongoing 'scams', and persistent attempts of fraudulent activity targeting individuals, of which this highlighted version is a current manifestation". The spokesperson urged people never to send money to a third party unless their bona fides could be trusted, and to always be wary of unsolicited contact from numbers based in other jurisdictions. Gardaí also issued the following advice on scam texts more generally: Be wary when the avenues for contacting the other party are limited; Push for direct answers and if responses are vague, disengage immediately; Never give personal, financial or security information to persons who are unknown to you; If it sounds too good to be true it probably is; Do your research and accept nothing as fact until you have satisfied yourself that it is genuine. "An Garda Síochána would remind the public to be fraud aware and maintain good practices at all times when making payments online to any third party," the spokesperson added. "An Garda Síochána would appeal to any person who has been the victim of fraudulent activity to report this crime at your local Garda station." More information can be found at In a statement, eFlow confirmed it was aware of scammers impersonating it to extract people's personal and financial details. "In recent months, scammers have targeted people nationwide with fraudulent texts claiming to be from eFlow," it said. "These smishing attempts typically send an urgent message asking recipients to click on a link, which can lead to the extraction of personal financial information and theft." The toll operator said it did not send links in text messages. Anyone who receives a message like this should not click the link and delete the message immediately. The company also said its system "has not been compromised or subjected to a data breach". Bogus texts purportedly from eFlow can be reported to scam@ before deletion. The company added anyone who has clicked on the link should contact their bank immediately. Read More Life Hack: The signs of some common scams you should know about


The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ex-footballer, 35, turned DJ ‘beaten to death by cops' in Ibiza was ‘hallucinating and threatening neighbour with knife'
A FORMER footballer turned DJ, whose father alleges police killed, died after trespassing and threatening a neighbour with a knife, cops have insisted. The family of Italian DJ Michele Noschese 5 Michele Noschese, aka DJ Godzi Credit: Jam Press 5 The DJ died after allegedly being beaten by cops at a house party Credit: Jam Press 5 Cops claim he died after trespassing and threatening a neighbour with a knife Credit: instagram They have demanded officers face a homicide investigation over his death. They say the former The Civil Guard insist they tried to save the 35-year-old DJ's life after they rushed to aid an OAP he was They added that he went into convulsions when they arrived to find him "under the effects of drugs and suffering hallucinations." A spokesman for the force said: "On Saturday morning, the Civil Guard responded to an alert about threats in Santa Eulalia in Ibiza. "On arrival, they found that a person with visible signs of being under the influence of narcotic substances was suffering from hallucinations and had jumped into the home of his elderly neighbour, threatening this person with a knife. "The officers tried to restrain the assailant, at which point he began to convulse. "They tried to revive him by performing CPR until the arrival of the medical services, but were unsuccessful and he died at the scene. Most read in The Sun "The appropriate investigation is currently underway and a report will be handed over to the competent judicial authority." The elderly neighbour's daughter appeared to back the Spanish police version of events. Shocking moment Marbella cop slaps sunbather as two people are arrested She told a local paper in Ibiza: "His body is still bruised because he was struggling for a long time. "He has a trauma and doesn't even remember that the DJ had a knife. His shoulder is bad and his foot is also bruised because he was stepping on it the whole time. "My father is very sad about this situation." She said the Italian was someone who held parties regularly but had never threatened her father before. He had jumped into his balcony around 8am on Saturday while he was sleeping, she claimed. But his family has filed a complaint with the Spanish courts and the Naples Prosecutor's Office. His dad told Italian media: "My son died while he was in the custody of the Spanish police." Post-mortem results from the autopsy carried out following the DJ's death will be sent directly to an investigating court and are not expected to be made public. Fulvio Martusciello, MEP for the Forza Italia political party, said: "We want to know the truth about Michele Noschese's death. "We want to understand what happened and what the Civil Guard's responsibility is. "The sudden death of a young, successful and well-liked Neapolitan, an internationally renowned DJ, cannot remain in the shadows." Michele said in 2023 that he got interested in music when he was 15 - and lived in London for two years when he was younger. Read more on the Irish Sun The economics graduate played in Serie C with Cavese and Benevento as well as Napoli's youth team. He was offered the chance to play professionally in the Swiss top flight, but turned it down to become a DJ instead. 5 Michele Noschese, aka DJ Godzi, was just 35 Credit: Jam Press 5 He had been living on the Iberian island for about 10 years Credit: instagram