A man who had over €1.7million worth of drugs along with three guns in his home, and who was caught delivering more drugs around the country, has been jailed for 10 years.
Paul Bourke (56) pleaded guilty to eight counts relating to the possession of cocaine for sale or supply, the possession of €18,100 in cash which was the proceeds of crime and the possession of three Glock 17 pistols, all on November 3, 2023. He has been in custody since.
The offences took place in various locations including Bourke’s home address at Tullyvolty, Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, at an address at Ballygall Parade in Finglas, Co. Dublin, and at addresses in Tallaght, Co. Dublin and Ashbourne, Co Meath.
He has two minor previous convictions but was otherwise not on the garda radar, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday (Monday).
Detective Garda Susan Plunkett told Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting, that an operation involving the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau was launched following a confidential tip-off.
On the day in question, Bourke was observed leaving his Kilkenny home in his transit van, and he was seen dropping packages in Tallaght, Ashbourne and Finglas, where he was eventually arrested.
Each package was seized at the scene and the people who received them were arrested, the court heard. The packages in Tallaght was found to contain just over €70,000 worth of cocaine, while the Ashbourne and Finglas packages both had over €17,000 worth of cocaine in them.
When Bourke was arrested in Finglas, his van was found to contain €18,100 of cash. His Kilkenny home was then searched, where cocaine with a street value of €1,776,207 was discovered in an outhouse on the property. Three Glock 17 semi-automatic pistols were also discovered in a box, along with cannabis amounting to €19,000, the court heard.
Drug paraphernalia including a pressing machine was also found at the scene, the court heard.
When interviewed, Bourke made admissions to gardaí, admitting that he was distributing drugs around the country after an “opportunity” had arisen about a year previously. He said he was under a certain amount of pressure from these persons. He did not give names of anyone involved.
Dean Kelly SC, defending, said Bourke had reached middle age before being charged with this “extraordinarily serious offence”. He said Bourke had a difficult childhood marred with violence, but despite these difficulties, he had a long work history including as a bus driver, factory worker, waste services worker and in later years, a tourist coach driver.
Mr Kelly said a psychologist’s report before the court found Bourke had “significant pscyhological vulnerabilities”, with poor mental health and a history of suicidal ideation. In relation to the drugs and guns, defence counsel said the “ultimate ownership and ultimate benefit is with someone else”.
The court heard Bourke has a wife who moved from America to be with him. She was unaware of his drug dealing, but had made the decision to support him and was present in court, Mr Kelly said.
Sentencing Bourke yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan noted he was a “wholesaler and distributor” to people who were selling drugs.
He took into account a number of mitigating factors, including Bourke’s guilty plea, co-operation with gardaí, his long-standing work history and his lack of relevant criminal convictions.
But the judge noted this was a very serious offence, involving large quantities of drugs and three guns. He said had Bourke just been a transporter delivering the drugs, he would have set a headline sentence of six or seven years, “but this was a more serious matter”.
“He was a wholesale distributor of these drugs and there were guns as well,” Judge Nolan said.
He said a headline sentence of 15 years, but reduced it to 10 years, taking the mitigating factors into account. He backdated the sentence to last year when Bourke first went into custody.
