Convicted Limerick rapist facing drugs charges says ‘deal bags’ were for birdseed

A CONVINCED rapist on trial on drugs charges told gardai that “deal bags” found in a garden shed were for birdseed and flower seeds, a court heard.

Thomas O’Neill, 35, of Hyde Avenue in Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick city, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of heroin with intent to sell or supply and one count of possession of cocaine with intent to supply. He also pleaded guilty at Limerick Criminal Court to two counts of possession of heroin and one count of possession of cocaine.

Prosecutor John O’Sullivan, instructed by state solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the evidence on Monday afternoon, assisted by Garda Seán O’Connor of Roxboro Road garda station.

Mr O’Sullivan said that on the night of June 7, 2024, three Armed Support Unit guards observed the defendant carrying out a transaction believed to involve the sale or supply of drugs outside a property on Hyde Avenue in Weston, Ballinacurra.

“The defendant was leaning into the back of a Hyundai Tucson. When gardaí approached he became aggressive in an attempt to distract them. Officers observed drug dealing in the back seat,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

The court heard the Armed Support Unit contacted Detective Garda Niall Fitzgerald at Roxboro Road garda station to obtain a search warrant. The warrant was subsequently executed and the vehicle was seized at 22:00.

“There were 23 contracted bags of heroin and 18 contracted cocaine bags in the backseat. CCTV has been secured showing Thomas O’Neill dealing drugs with two men,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Five days later on June 12, the prosecutor said gardaí executed a search warrant at O’Neill’s own address in Hyde Avenue, a different house to the one listed on June 7.

“During the search, Gardai found seven heroin in a garden shed, as well as shrink wrap and bags used in the sale or supply of drugs. They found the keys to the Hyundai Tucson and the vehicle’s registration book,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

During garda interviews O’Neill denied being involved in a drug deal on June 7 and said he gave spare change to a person, according to CCTV footage.

O’Neill told Gardaí that the seven heroin pills found in his garden shed were for his personal use. The defendant said he smoked 10 bags of heroin a day. O’Neill told Gardai the deal bags were for bird seed and flower seed.

Mr O’Sullivan said the value of the 23 heroin deals in the car was €308; The price of 18 cocaine items in the car was 98 euros, and the seven heroin sales in the garden shed were valued at 210 euros.

The prosecutor’s attorney said the amounts may have been small, but the pattern of activity showed O’Neiil was actively involved in the cocaine and heroin trade.

Mr O’Sullivan described O’Neill as a “veteran of the criminal justice system since childhood”.

He said O’Neill was sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape in 2004, with the final year suspended because of his role in a “highly infamous gang rape”.

O’Neill, then 16, was one of four teenagers who gang-raped a woman in Cratloe Woods, Co Clare, on January 2, 2004.

The four were armed with a golf club, a screwdriver, a shovel and a lug wrench. They threatened the woman and a man she was with at the time.

O’Neill and his accomplices ordered the man and woman to get out of their car. The woman was hit with a golf club after she refused to give a kiss to a gang member.

The man was ordered to get into the trunk of the car and the woman was pushed onto the hood before being dragged inside the car where O’Neill and three others took turns raping her.

O’Neill also has previous convictions for false imprisonment, intimidating a witness, robbery, using a phone in prison, affray, violent disorder, assault with intent to cause bodily harm, producing articles during a dispute and possession of property. drugs for sale or supply and “numerous road traffic problems”.

Liam Carroll BL (pictured below), representing O’Neill, said sale or supply offenses were at the lower end of the spectrum because the value was so low.

“If it was anyone else it would probably have been handled at the district court level, but here we are. He was in the throes of addiction at the time and was effectively managing himself in this way to feed his own habit. It was not a profitable venture,” Mr. Carroll said.

The barrister said O’Neill struggled with addiction when he was released from prison, but O’Neill started a methadone program and dropped from 110ml to 50ml. O’Neill has been in custody since June and Mr Carroll said it was the first time in his adult life that O’Neill had entered the prison system.

“She is currently going to school and studying art and cooking. He realizes that he is getting older and his children are growing up. Mr Carroll, who said O’Neill’s wife April Collins was in court to support him, said: “He is not causing trouble in prison; these are new developments.”

“Ms Collins faced similar difficulties because of her association with some people. She was a State witness in a murder case. Her life was threatened for a significant period of time after that. She expects better from him (O’Neill) as he distanced himself from that lifestyle,” Mr Carroll said.

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Sentencing, Judge Colin Daly said the value of the drugs may not have been very high, but O’Neill’s culpability was high because he was clearly dealing Class A or hard drugs.

Judge Daly said O’Neill was supporting organized crime by his actions. The judge took into account the drug scourge plaguing O’Neill personally, his local community and society at large.

The judge also took into account O’Neill’s chronic addiction and “very significant previous convictions”.

Judge Daly imposed two-year sentences each, to be served concurrently, for the sale or supply of heroin and cocaine on June 7, 2023.

On June 12, he was given a concurrent 16-month prison sentence for the sale or supply of heroin. The sentences were backdated to June 13, when O’Neill was first detained. Drug possession charges against three people were taken into consideration.

Judge Daly ordered the destruction of heroin, cocaine and drug paraphernalia.