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A WOMAN WHOSE former partner was caught with over €50,000 of heroin has avoided a jail sentence for permitting the preparation of the drugs at her home.
Rachel Harford (47) told gardaí the drugs had nothing to do with her and she hid one of the bags in the crotch of her leggings out of panic because she got a fright when gardaí arrived.
Her former partner, Eamonn Kane, pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs found at the house and last year received a four years and nine month sentence with the final 18 months suspended.
Harford, whose four minor previous convictions date back to the 1990s, had beaten a heroin addiction over twenty years ago and not come to garda attention since then.
‘Pain and distress’
Harford of Rathoath Drive, Finglas, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly permitting or suffering the preparation of a controlled drug at her home on December 14, 2015.
Judge Karen O’Connor noted that Harford had never been suspected of being the “main actor” in this activity. She said that Harford allowing her premises used in this way contributed to the criminality which cause destruction, pain and distress in the community.
Judge O’Connor noted that Harford had a difficult upbringing and circumstances in her life, but had overcome her heroin addiction and remained conviction free for decades. She was at low risk of re-offending.
Judge O’Connor imposed a two and a half year sentence which she suspended in full.
Heroin on the kitchen table
Garda William O’Keefe told Fionnuala O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that gardaí arrived at Harford’s home with a search warrant. They found Kane in the kitchen doorway with Harford standing behind him.
Harford was observed to put an item into crotch area of her leggings. Garda O’Keefe said they could see what appeared to be heroin on the kitchen table behind them.
Gardaí recovered heroin valued at €52,883 and a small amount of cannabis herb valued at €29.
Harford told gardaí the drugs were nothing to do with her and she had just grabbed one of the bags in fright when gardaí arrived.
Garda O’Keefe agreed with John Fitzgerald BL, defending, that Harford had not been the focus of the investigation or the search.
Fitzgerald said Harford had a chaotic upbringing. Her own history of drug taking and homelessness had ended 20 years ago. He said her younger children were living a markedly different life than she had lived herself and were doing well in education.
Counsel submitted this was a testament to how she had rehabilitated herself. He asked the court to take into account her circumstances, her record and the stage she was at in her life.
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Half a billion for than 20 miles of road.
This is HALF of what it costs in urban areas of the US. Half.
Just plain mismanagement and probably corruption.
We Irish can’t do big projects.
@Chris O’Brien: was thinking the same,but also 200 million in 21,and now 450 million 2 years later
@Chris O’Brien: So it costs 1 billion in the US??
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Didn’t spot that, nice one.
@Chris O’Brien: what corruption are you talking about??
@Liam23: The corruption in his head.
@Chris O’Brien: great country:) Al Capone was less of a gangster than the shower running this country he’d be amazed he was a joke next to them
Single carriageway roadway….Wow let’s celebrate like its the 1930s. Perfect proactive solution not to include passing lanes on new construction. Car with trailer max speed 80km; car behind it max speed 100 with no safe area to pass, what could go wrong? Solution they come up with rather than acknowledge their failure is to reduce speed limits to 80 for all. Simple decisions designed by simple minds.
@Irish Conservative: Completely new road and area relatively flat so road should be straight enough, similar to Ballagh/Charlestown bypass. Overtaking slower traffic should not be a problem with a bit of common sense.
@Bert Carolan: It is usually the volume of on coming traffic that creates the problem for passing. Single carriageway roads are Seven times (7x) more dangerous compared to dual lanes per Road Safety Foundation. Building passing lanes to alleviate congestion safely is common sense.
@Irish Conservative: If your stats are correct then fair point, though I do think we have a tendancy in this country to blame roads and speed limits for accidents rather than driver behaviour.
They should continue the M4 all the way to all the way to Sligo and be done with it. Small-minded thinking again, like we don’t want any of those 10-story skyscrapers in Dublin.
God they were depressing towns to go through…all the same I’ll miss them..
@hi from heaven: Strokestown not bad. I won’t miss the stretch of road, you could be stuck behind a truck for miles.
Take a detour through Clondra and it’s 3 bridges sometime just to see what the main road used to be like.
@hi from heaven: well I won’t miss them, has to be the worst stretch of road in the country
@Bert Carolan: Took a trip just now, thanks Google Streetview and oh my! It was barely designed for an ass and cart!
13.2 million a kilometer…. Is it the heated road or something.
@JJ Dolan: in fairness there will be no bends in it. Straight as f%ck, like whoever builds it.
Watch whoever gets the contract milk the taxpayers like a prize cow. I’ll bet the same road could be built abroad for a fraction of that cost. We have a reputation as being prime for riding when it comes to construction, we just bend over every time
More than doubled in price! Will probably cost €600 million. The country is run by buffoons!
@Fred Coloe: not fair on buffoons
@Fred Coloe:
True but then the guy who but I the bid of €200 million went bust……
I’d be more concerned that the contract is a bit more water tight than the children’s hospital one.
It didn’t really double in price… same as the childrens hospital, they low ball and then add on extras..
Only difference is road bridge bluff was called on a couple of projects that they had done previously and hence went bust..
@hi from heaven:
Bullseye
€450m…..So the final cost will be closer to €600m
Something wrong with the costings here for a Single Carriage Way Road, the new 30 Klm A6 Derry to Dungiven Dual Carriage Way has just been completed at a total cost of £250 Million Stg, which is a lot cheaper per Klm than it is in the South.
It would be nice to get a breakdown on where the money goes. How much to planners, how much to engineers, ect
Will have to make Strokestown detour for chips in Antonelli’s …
Taking the aul roads in I see
The money was all spent on archaeologists, ecologists, planners and lawyers – the “make work” crowd. People need to remember that money spent by the government goes somewhere – it doesn’t just go into a black hole – it goes towards paying labourers, digger drivers, quarries, tarmac contractors, plant hire companies, engineers, fuel suppliers, mechanics and a lot of the local shops will see a lot more trade during construction. SO this money goes into the economy – OUR economy, it helps stimulate economic growth, it helps people put food on the table and pay their mortgages, it provides employment in an area of the country that has suffered underinvestment for generations. It’s about time the NW got some of what Munster & Leinster have – capital expenditure and investment.
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