A man who served time for attempted murder has been ordered to leave Ireland and take up a job offer in his native Hungary instead of going to jail for importing cocaine.

Jozsef Keresnyei was caught at Dublin Airport carrying 99 pellets of cocaine internally.

He later told gardai he had been given €300 to bring the drugs to Ireland by a man he had met in prison while serving a sentence for the attempted murder of his violent, alcoholic father.

Keresnyei (29) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing 1 kilogramme of cocaine worth €69,466 and possessing it for sale or supply at Terminal 1 in Dublin Airport on March 2nd 2013.

Giving evidence, he described how his father would get violent after a few drinks and physically assault him at least once a week from when he was 2-years-old. He said he had no formal education and was primarily reared by his grandmother and grandfather, whom his father would also beat.

The father had held a knife to his son's throat and stomach on the last attack, before Keresnyei picked up another knife and stabbed him.

He said his other convictions included stealing a couple of cigarette packets from a store and using someone else's bank card because he was hungry.

He apologised in court for his actions, but said he was studying art and computers in prison. He said "no job, no money, no future picture" had been factors in committing the crime.

Judge Carmel Stewart noted that despite his violent upbringing, he had managed to stay law abiding until he was almost 21-years-old and picked up a minor theft conviction.

She gave him a three years suspended sentence on condition he leaves the jurisdiction and returns to Hungary to take up the full time work offered.