Cork court: Cocaine addict asks judge to send him to prison

A CRACK cocaine addiction prompted a man, aged 37, to ask a sentencing judge to send him to jail so that he could get himself clear of the drug.

Leonard Geasley was caught with two wraps of diamorphine (heroin) in his sock when he was searched by gardaí on August 30, 2023, and now Judge Mary Dorgan has sentenced him to four months in prison.

Geasley, of Sunview Court, Sunvalley Drive, Fairhill, Cork, told Judge Dorgan that since he was caught with the heroin, he had come off this drug. “Basically, I was on 80ml of methadone and that is down to 15ml now [in getting off heroin],” he said.

“I am addicted to crack cocaine. I was hoping you could give me a minimum sentence — just to get clean,” Geasley said.

The accused man had numerous previous convictions, including 11 counts of having drugs for his own use previously.

Judge Dorgan sentenced him to four months for having the heroin last August.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said the accused would serve that time and he had no intention of appealing the sentence.

The background to the detection of the offence on August 30, 2023, was that Garda Shane Hayes observed him acting suspiciously and carried out a search. When searched, he had two small wrappings of brown powder substance in the right sock. He admitted it was heroin for his own use.

His address on the charge sheet was Sunview Court but there was evidence of an address also at Deerpark House on Friars Walk.