Gardaí found benzodiazepine tablets in prison officer's official hat

A former prison officer who admitted dealing prescription drugs has walked free from court on a suspended sentence.

During a planned search of Aaron Sheridan's Dublin home on February 8, 2024 gardai found over 61 tablets sitting loosely in an Irish Prison Service-issued peaked hat. Around 900 tablets were found separately in a rolled up sock.

Sheridan (38) initially told gardaí that the tablets were for personal use as he had a cocaine addiction and he took up to five tablets to come down from the cocaine. He later told The Probation Service that he was supplying the tablets to other colleagues in the prison service.

He denied to gardai that he ever supplied drugs within the prison. Garda Shane Cunningham told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, that there is no evidence to indicate Sheridan was supplying the drugs in prison.

Sheridan of Belclare Drive, Ballymun, Dublin 9 pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of drugs for sale or supply at his home. He also admitted having the proceeds of criminal conduct which related to €1,200 cash found at his home.

Sheridan was also charged with possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct in his bank accounts. This money laundering charge related to €118,000 in allegedly unexplained monies moving in and out of his bank accounts during an eight year period between 2017 and 2024.

No plea was entered on this count, but it was “taken into consideration” for sentencing.

Eoghan Cole SC, defending, said his client had a gambling addiction which was “out of control” by the time he had joined the prison service in 2018. Counsel said that the movement of significant levels of cash through his bank account over the eight years included payouts from online gambling companies and casino apps.

He said his client also took in cash from nixers and from covering shifts for other prison officers. He said it's now accepted that all of this was irregular and was not dealt with properly with respect to declarations to Revenue.

Garda Cunningham accepted that at the time of his arrest, Sheridan was in debt and that there were no trappings of wealth. He agreed with Mr Cole that the average bank balance was generally quite low in value over the eight-year period.

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Sheridan was charged in February 2025 and pleaded guilty last November to the two charges. His three prior criminal convictions are for minor road traffic offences.

The father of two has since resigned from the prison service.

Judge Orla Crowe said she was giving him the “chance of a lifetime” and handed down a two-year sentence and suspended it for a period of four years on strict conditions.

At the sentence hearing on Thursday, March 26, the judge noted he had resigned as a prison officer but said it is a “role in society which is a particularly trusted one.”

“His fall from grace is significant,” she added.