“Foot soldiers in the criminal underworld”: Two men sentenced for roles in Waterford drug-related intimidation
Judge Eugene O'Kelly said drug-related intimidation was "becoming more and more prevelant."
Craig Carroll (41) of 37 Old Tower Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin and Dylan McCormick (26) of no fixed abode, received criminal sentences for their role in a drug debt intimidation scheme.
Carroll was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, with the final nine months suspended, provided he entered into a bond to keep the peace for 12 months post-release.
McCormick was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for his role in the intimidation. McCormick was also sentenced in relation to an attempted robbery at the Ballytruckle Post Office in Waterford City.
McCormick was left with a consecutive sentence of seven years and three months, with the final year of the sentence suspended.
On March 19, Carroll and McCormick called to a residence on the Dunmore Road, and knocked on a woman’s front door.
The court saw eight minutes of CCTV footage of the incident. The men told the woman that her son, who was residing in Dublin, owed €10,000 in drug-related debt and threatened to harm him if he did not pay.
Carroll told the woman “the message” was coming from Dublin. He offered the woman a payment plan.
The men said there were “consequences when you don’t pay gangsters” and threatened that her son would be in hospital with no legs if he did not pay in due time.
The incident took place in the presence of a four-year-old child who was inside the woman's house, but occasionally ran outside the front door.
Both men were arrested in the coming weeks. McCormick admitted to his role in the crime, while Carroll maintained his right to silence. He later pleaded guilty to the charge.
McCormick’s phone was seized, where a voice note from Carroll showed plans to circle the Waterford area.
A victim impact statement, read by Garda Damien Quirke, said: “No one should feel threatened at their home.
“The harm that could come to my neighbours, family, constantly plays in her mind.
“These strains will have a knock-on for years to come.”
Carroll had 68 previous convictions, relating to drugs, lack of insurance, the possession of a knife and threatening physical abuse. He also had convictions from Spain for bodily harm.
McCormick had no previous convictions at the time of the intimidation incident. The court heard that McCormick’s parents had once been the centre of drug-related intimidation, and that McCormick knew how the woman would have felt when he threatened her son.
Acting as defence counsel for McCormick, Gareth Hayden BL said McCormick offered an apology to the impacted family and gardaí.
He said McCormick’s drug addiction had led to a rapid downward spiral, and that his client had engaged well with the assessment process and wished to use his custodial sentence to rehabilitate.
Defence counsel for Carroll, Brian P O’Shea BL, argued Carroll had pled guilty at the first possible opportunity when faced with legal advice.
In his sentencing, Judge Eugene O’Kelly said intimidation of family members was “becoming more and more prevalent".
“Debts seem to continue to increase…whether there was any money owed by [the woman’s] son was not relevant.
“[Carroll and McCormick] are enforcers who turned up…they are an essential ingredient, foot soldiers in the criminal underworld.”
The argument that the men were merely delivering a message, rather than actively threatening the woman, did not hold in Judge O’Kelly’s view.
The judge complimented the victim for standing firm in the face of the two men and reporting the incident to Gardaí.
“Such courage is unfortunately all too rare,” said Judge O’Kelly.
McCormick’s own experience on the other end of drug-related intimidation, and Carroll’s 68 previous convictions, were deemed aggravating factors in their sentencing.
Three months later, on June 23, McCormick attempted to rob the Ballytruckle Post Office in Poleberry while on bail for the drug-related intimidation charge.
McCormick demanded €20 and €50 notes from a post office worker behind a glass barrier. The silent alarm was raised on McCormick, and CCTV showed him running from the post office without any money.
He was identified by Gardaí and had items seized, including knives.
In a subsequent interview, McCormick admitted it was him in the footage. He had left used gloves in an alley, while he said the knife found on his body was being used for fishing.
In his sentencing, Judge O’Kelly said while the attempted robbery was a “ham-fisted effort”, it “doesn’t take from the staff and potential customers exposed to fear.”
