Drug dealer’s threat to elderly pair over debt
A CONVICTED drug dealer from Runcorn threatened to smash up an elderly couple’s home if they did not pay their son’s debt.
Daniel O’Brien was on licence after his release from prison for possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply when he called at the couple’s home demanding to see their son, Michael Goggin.
The 33-year-old was jailed for three years at Liverpool Crown Court last Friday after pleading guilty to blackmail.
Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said the couple were left in a state of shock after O’Brien, of Boston Avenue in Runcorn , said he would ‘smash up the flat’ if they did not pay £380.
O’Brien believed Mr Goggin lived at the flat, but it was actually the home of his parents, aged 69 and 70, who lived with his father’s elderly mother.
The couple’s relationship with their son had become strained by his ● addiction to drugs, and they told O’Brien they did not know where he was and to go away.
Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, passing sentence, said: “No wonder they felt, as they did, in a state of shock and disturbed that their son’s problems had come home to haunt them.”
Mr Taylor said that after the incident Mr Goggin’s father managed to get in touch with his son, who gave him £220 to pay towards the debt.
But O’Brien demanded the full amount, and again threatened to smash the flat if it was not paid.
The couple felt they had no option but to report O’Brien to the police, who placed him under arrest.
Frances Hertzog, defending, told the court her client had been going through a ‘difficult period’.
She said: “At the time he was suffering from financial difficulty. He and his partner went through a very difficult time.
“She had sadly suffered a miscarriage, and lost what would have been their first child.
“Two weeks after that his partner also lost her father.
“Her mother suffers from dementia and she had to give up a good job at an estate agent’s to care for her.”
Ms Hertzog said her client had recently been released from prison and had not yet received benefits or managed to secure a job.
Judge Goldstone said he could not add the prison term to the remainder of his previous sentence for the drugs matters.