A Dublin drug dealer was responsible for 17 overdoses in Cork city after he passed off a "highly dangerous drug" as heroin, his sentencing hearing in Cork heard yesterday.
Thirty-year-old Josh McGuinness, of no fixed address, previously of Harmonstown Road, Raheny, Dublin, and originally from Coolock, was jailed for four years after he pleaded guilty to being in possession of diamorphine (heroin) and crack cocaine for his own use, and having both drugs for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying to others.
Circuit Criminal Court Judge Cormac Quinn said McGuinness was "selling drugs knowing they were highly dangerous to people. The fact that he was aware that the drugs he was selling were causing drug addicts to overdose is particularly aggravating."
He added: "People buying drugs simple don't know what they are buying. Those higher up in the drug chain - and in this case the street dealer - don't give a jot for them. It was only fortunate that there was no fatality. Anyone using recreational drugs runs that risk", Judge Quinn said.
Earlier the court heard that the Dublin drug dealer brought a batch of drug deals to Cork because of "the heat" they were causing with overdoses in Dublin and spent eight days selling the synthetic heroin substitute to Cork users - directly causing 17 overdoses.
The particular batch of nitazene being sold by Josh McGuinness as heroin resulted in a national campaign by the Health Service Executive warning about the extreme danger posed by taking this drug.
Several Garda units were on the streets of Cork trying to locate the particular batch of drugs at the time, the court was told.
Josh McGuinness was arrested on 12 December 2023 and said he had a severe crack cocaine addiction that extended to consuming 15 to 20 deals of the drug per day at a daily cost of €600.
Det Garda Derry O'Brien told the court that McGuinness admitted he did know that the drugs he was selling in Cork caused 17 overdoses.
"He said he was aware they were causing the overdoses. When asked why he continued to sell the drug knowing it was causing these overdoses, Josh McGuinness replied 'they just kept ringing'," Det Garda O'Brien said.
Judge Quinn took this to mean the drug users were asking for what they believed was heroin and they were supplied with this extremely potent synthetic drug that was causing overdoses.
Det Garda O'Brien said: "We asked how many deals from that batch had he sold in Cork. He believed 80 deals he sold in the city in the space of a week.
"In the space of 10 days, the drugs caused 17 overdoses. People would have been buying them thinking they were diamorphine (heroin), but that was not what it was. It was a synthetic opiod."
"All of those who had overdoses made a full recovery," Det Garda O'Brien said.
Defence Barrister, Mahon Corkery said McGuinness found himself at the bottom of a chain in terms of drugs and was to an extent acting out of fear and duress.
"One wonders how much agency he enjoyed. He was operating at a high level of chemical compulsion which I submit would reduce his moral culpability," Mr Corkery said.
