Munster Express Online

The mother of a young man who died at a party in her house was cleared of allowing drugs to be handed out at Carlow Circuit Court this week.

Betty Grey (48), Ballybeg Square, Waterford, who denied knowing cocaine was “freely available”, was found not guilty of permitting the sale, supply or distribution of cocaine in her home after a judge ruled it would be “unsafe” to convict her on the evidence before the court.

However, the defendant gave an undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of five years after the judge raised the issue with her barrister.

Her son John (23) and student Kevin Doyle (21) died in hospital after they collapsed and fell into a coma at the party in the early hours of November 25, 2007.

The trial heard how party-goers had been “shoving cocaine down their throats” and that people started having “fits” and began “dropping to the ground” before ambulances were called sometime after 4.30am.

Mrs Grey, whose son died 16 days after lapsing into a coma, maintained she never saw “any substance” in her home on the night/morning in question.

The deceased men were among five people rushed to Waterford Regional Hospital and a further 11 were admitted to A&E for medical examination.

Having commenced a week previously, the trial ended abruptly on Tuesday when, following an application by defence counsel for the case to be withdrawn from the jury on the basis that that “no safe conviction could occur here”, Judge Thomas Teehan directed the jury to find Mrs Grey not guilty.

He told jurors he had to pay regard to the evidence of two prosecution witnesses who were of the view that if Mrs Grey had known drugs were being distributed in her house she would have strongly objected.

See The Munster Express newspaper for full story.