Canal bank dealer had €3.4k worth of crack and heroin in Coke can

Dylan Brien (27), the son of a murdered criminal, was in the “throes of addiction” at the time of the drugs offences, a court heard.

Judge Ciaran Liddy gave him a five-month suspended sentence. Brien, from Kiltalown Close, Jobstown, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Blanchardstown District Court heard gardaí saw a number of men in a known drug-dealing area at the Grand Canal Bank, Clondalkin, on October 20, 2020.

When they approached, Brien took off running but was eventually apprehended.

Where he had been standing, gardaí found a “Coca-Cola tin” with €700 of crack cocaine and heroin valued at €2,700 in it, along with a hammer.

Brien accepted responsibility for the drugs and also had €1,770 in cash on him.

At the time, he was in the throes of addictions to cocaine and Xanax and was drinking a lot of alcohol, his barrister Ciaran MacLoughlin said.

Brien’s father had been a “well-known criminal” in the locality and was murdered when the accused was a child.

The accused became persona non grata and had to move because “the sins of the father were being visited on his young son, who had nothing to do with them whatsoever”.

Brien had turned his life around since the offences and was in employment, Mr MacLoughlin said.