Judge issues warrant for 'in hiding' jockey after he fails to do community service for drugs charge

Stephen Maguire

A Judge has ordered an arrest warrant to be issued for a Co Donegal horse-racing jockey who is “in hiding” over a drug debt after he failed to complete a community service order.

Oran Brown was convicted in court after being caught with over €11,000 worth of drugs at his home in June 2020.

In 2023, the Lifford sportsman was ordered to do 240 hours of community service after gardaí raided his home and found drugs and cash.

Last month, Donegal Circuit Court heard that he has been unable to undertake that part of his sentence.

The case was adjourned to today to see if Brown could be ed to explain why he had not undertaken the community service in lieu of the prison sentence.

Brown's barrister, Mr Peter Nolan, explained that his client has been in hiding over a drug debt.

“Oran Brown has an individual looking for him to pay a drug debt.

“He is in hiding. He can’t comply with the community service order as he is in fear of third parties,” he said.

The case was brought back before the court by the Probation Service due to Brown’s non-compliance with the order.

The case was mentioned again on Tuesday, but the Probation Service told the court that they had made 'numerous efforts' to Brown but had still not heard back from him.

A spokesperson for the service said they had tried to reach the accused by phone and had sent him letters since last November, but had still not heard back from him.

They also confirmed that Brown had not completed any of the 240 community service hours imposed in lieu of time in jail.

Judge John Aylmer said he was satisfied that Brown was aware of the order and issued a warrant.

Previously, Brown was sentenced to a three-and-a-half-year term in prison, which was suspended for three and a half years, for the possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling or supplying to others.

He was also ordered to complete 240 hours of community service in lieu of 6 months in prison on a charge of the unlawful possession of cocaine.

Gardai, armed with a search warrant, swooped on Brown’s home at Collate, Lifford on June 25th, 2020.

Detectives seized €8,668 worth of cannabis and cocaine with a street value of €2,504.81.

Some of the cannabis was found in deal bags. A Zopiclone tablet, valued at €2, was also located in the raid.

A grinder, weighing scales and a quantity of Ziploc bags were also found. Quantities of Diazepam and Xanax were found in a Tommy Hilfiger bag in the property, while gardaí observed a line of suspected cocaine on top of a dresser.

A quantity of cocaine was found inside a safe, which also contained €7,225 and £2,480 sterling in cash. Brown was searched, and a cylinder containing cannabis and a grinder was located on his person.

Almost £9,000 in cash was found inside a safe and, after being arrested, Brown told gardaí he 'smoked a lot of weed and sniffed cocaine'.

He added, "I won't lie, I sold a few bags of weed too."

Brown said the cash was given to him by his parents and grandparents for his birthday the month before.

He refused to give gardaí the PIN for his mobile phone as he said there was ‘stuff on the phone’ that he didn’t want them to see.

Detective Garda Michelle Kelly said gardaí were unable to access data from the phone as the PIN was not provided.

In court in 2023, Mr Nolan said his client, who he said was a “conditional apprentice” at the time, began taking cocaine “to keep the weight stabilised”.

“Stupidity led him to these circumstances,” Mr Nolan said.

At the time of sentencing, Judge Aylmer said, “It was clear from all the paraphernalia found on the premises that there was a significant amount of dealing going on.

“This is an unusual case where he deserves a second chance. It is with some hesitation, but it is a case that it may be dealt with better on a non-custodial basis given all of the features."