Man with 108 convictions jailed over bid to send drugs from Scotland to NI

Samuel Boyd (42), Of Innis House Hostel, Ventry Lane, Belfast, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B drugs and possession of the drugs.

The court heard Boyd had a lengthy criminal record totalling 108 convictions, 30 of which were for drug offences.

Probation Service assessed him as a “high likelihood of reoffending’’ but did not find that he posed a danger to the public.

Sentencing him to 18 months, Judge Patricis Smyth said the remaining nine months would be spent on supervised licence upon his release from prison.

She said it would be up to the Prison Service to consider the appropriate methadone programme to assist him with his addiction to heroin.

Boyd and two other men were arrested on October 30, 2015 after getting off a ferry from Scotland.

Co-accused Raymond Dunlop and Rory O’Connor were sentenced last Friday at Belfast Crown Court but Boyd failed to appear and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

The court heard the three defendants had travelled to Scotland on the Stena Line ferry.

The role of 32-year-old Dunlop and Boyd, said the prosecution, was to arrange the supply of cocaine and cannabis to Northern Ireland.

The role of O’connor (27) was described as “lesser’’ in that he encouraged or assisted his co-defendants in a number of drug offences.

Prosecution barrister Robin Steer said that while in Scotland, the trio travelled by car to Glasgow, where Dunlop and Boyd involved themselves in posting two packages containing drugs to an address in Northern Ireland.

One package contained 117 grams of cocaine with an 8 per cent purity, while the second contained 966 grams of herbal cannabis.

Both packages were subsequently intercepted, while the car with all three men on board was stopped on their return journey later that same day at the ferry terminal in Belfast.

Following an investigation it emerged that Boyd was linked to a Post Office in Glasgow via CCTV, while Dunlop’s phone was examined and provided evidence involving drugs.

Boyd and Dunlop both pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A and B drugs while O’Connor admitted a charge of encouraging or assisting offenders.

During last Friday’s sentencing, Judge Smyth told Dunlop and O’Connor: “It is because of people knowingly involving themselves in the drugs trade that our children are dying in the street.”

She said that by his guilty plea, O’Connor, from Lynn Doyle Place in Downpatrick, had indicated he knew the other two were travelling to Scotland for drugs, and that his presence in the car made it look like “a group of males innocently out for the day.”

“There is no doubt you knowingly took part in this drugs operations ... and you knew exactly what assistance you would be giving to this commercial drugs operation.”

But she said the prosecution accepted he played a “lesser role and you didn’t receive benefits for having travelled to Scotland”.

He was handed a 10-month sentence suspended for three years.

Judge Smyth told father-of-one Dunlop, of Great Victoria Street in Belfast. that she was reducing his sentence for two reasons - the delay in the case coming to court and the fact he has made “significant progress in terms of rehabilitation” by engaging with Addctions NI.

She sentenced Dunlop to ten months in custody and ten months on licence, adding: “If your rehabilitation is genuine, you will be a role model for other prisoners.”