Derry group protest outside the courthouse calling for stronger sentences for drug dealers

A Derry group has protested outside the courthouse, calling for stronger sentences for drug dealers. 

The group was led by Pauline Duddy, who has been fighting for this cause for nearly a year. 

She said: “I started this campaign to stop the sale and supply of illicit drugs in this city and every other city in Northern Ireland. 

“I lost my daughter in February 2023 to street drugs at 21 years of age, and I’m not stopping until the justice system is improved.

“They are quick to issue statements to say it is 14 years for Class A, Class B, and Class C drugs, but there is not one judge enforcing that, and I’m not stopping until they do.”

Pauline’s daughter, Jasmine, had been a mother when she passed away. 

And the campaigner has seen firsthand the impact drugs can have on a family and the individuals taking them.

She said: “It angers me. It is not only in Derry; it is all around Northern Ireland. It is everywhere. There are young people losing their lives on a daily basis.

“There are young people flooding hospitals in intensive care after taking these drugs laced with everything. There is no help available for these young people.

“We need to get a detox centre, the services in place are not working.”

Pauline believes the full force of the law needs to be enacted by judges to deter people from getting involved in the buying and selling of drugs. 

She said: “The judiciary system stinks, and there is absolutely no help.

“Judges need to enforce the maximum 14-year sentence for reoffenders because there is no deterrent, they are coming out, and they are reoffending straight away as it is easy money. But this easy money is coming at a cost to our children’s lives.”

Pauline has set up a petition, ‘Stop the Street Drugs’ to bring about the full enforcement of the law by judges, which is linked here. 

And the campaigner issued a warning to those who may wish to or are currently taking drugs. 

She said: “Please do not take drugs that are sold on the street. You don’t know what is in them; they are laced with everything, and it is killing our young people.

“You may think it is fine as it has not happened to you, but it can and will.”