Gardaí claim they caught Cork man red-handed with cocaine worth €8,000 in bedside cabinet

A man lying in bed at his Togher home was caught with more than €8,000 worth of cocaine in his bedside cabinet on Wednesday morning, it was claimed on Thursday, as police objected to his release on bail.

Detective Garda Emmet Long testified at Cork District Court that Laurence (Larry) O’Sullivan of 3 Palmbury Orchard, Togher, Cork, was allegedly caught in the act.

The 57-year-old, wearing a Celtic FC training shirt, faces in court charges of possession of cocaine for personal use and possession of cocaine for sale or supply to others.

Detective Garda Emmet Long, from the Togher drug unit, said the officer and a specially trained dog went to the defendant’s home. It was alleged that during a warrant search on Wednesday 9 October, the drug unit located a plastic bag containing €8,400 of suspected cocaine.

Larry O’Sullivan was in the bedroom where the cocaine was located and confirmed to the officer that it was his bedroom where the drugs were found on the nightstand, Det. Garda Long testified.

Eddie Burke, solicitor, said the accused co-operated with police following the arrest at his home and that testing of the suspected drug could take more than six months due to delays in forensic analysis. He said the accused denied it was cocaine and claimed it was a mixing agent.

Opposing bail, Det. Garda Long said: “Now that they have made a loss of €8,400, gardaí believe they will continue to participate in the sale or supply of drugs.” Larry O’Sullivan said that at the moment he was building his life in terms of family relationships and said that sending him to prison would not help anything.

Judge Treasa Kelly told the defendant after hearing his bail application: “You are accused of a very serious crime and it is alleged that you were caught with a large quantity of cocaine. You have the right to the presumption of innocence.

“There is strong evidence to support the accusation. In the general scheme of things, the criteria are met for a bail objection. I am not satisfied with granting bail. I am remanding you in custody to await instructions from the DPP.”

At the request of Sergeant Gearóid Davis, Judge Kelly adjourned the case until October 17th.