Jail slash attack victim who got €150k denies he's heroin dealer
14/6/2013 Peter Creighton, a former prisoner in Wheatfield Prison, leaving court yesterday(Fri) after he was awarded €150,000 damages following a High Court action for damages.Pic: Collins Courts
A 34-YEAR-OLD man, who was awarded €150,000 in damages after he was slashed in an attack in a prison, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court to a heroin dealing charge.
Earlier this month, Peter Creighton became the first person to be awarded damages by the High Court for injuries sustained in an attack while in custody. He had been assaulted in an overcrowded area in Wheatfield Prison in 2003 and suffered severe lacerations to his face and body – totalling 78cm – leaving him scarred for life.
Yesterday he appeared at Dublin District Court where he faced two summons for unlawful possession of heroin and possessing it for sale or supply to another, at Neilstown Shopping Centre, Neilstown Road, in Clondalkin, Dublin on July 14.
Level
The charges are under the Misuse of Drugs Act and the case is to be dealt with at district court level. Judge Patricia McNamara was told that the case was "in for a plea" to be entered.
Creighton, from Moorfield Lawns, Clondalkin, did not address the court during the brief hearing yesterday. However, when the case was called his solicitor John Wood told Judge McNamara that "a date for hearing is required".
Judge McNamara ordered Creighton to appear again on a date next February when the non-jury district court trial will take place.
hnews@herald.ie