Prison for 'dealer' who swallowed heroin
A Lithuanian man swallowed bags of heroin in front of a Garda during a drugs raid, just two days after he had arrived in this country.
Linas Karolis (43), with an address at 21 Sylvan Avenue, Fairlands Park, Newcastle, appeared in custody before Galway District Court last week where he pleaded guilty to the obstruction of Garda PJ Noone during a drugs search at the above address on November 4 last.
Garda Noone told the court that during a search of the premises he saw Karolis place bags of heroin into his mouth in an upstairs bedroom.
He refused to spit them out and swallowed them instead.
The court heard Karolis had been refused bail by the High Court and had been in custody since his arrest on November 4.
Defence solicitor, Brian Gilmartin said his client had only been in Ireland for two days prior to his arrest. He said Karolis was a married man with two children who had come to Ireland with the promise of work.
However, when he arrived here he was told there was no job and he became part of “the system”.
Imposing a 10-month sentence on the accused, Judge Mary Fahy said his only purpose for being in Ireland was to sell heroin. The sentence was backdated to when Karolis went into custody in November. Leave to appeal the sentence was also granted.