A man who allowed his car to be used for the transportation of almost €60,000 worth of cannabis has been jailed for 20 months.
David Murray (33), of Ballyshannon Road, Kilmore, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly permitting the sale or supply of cannabis in his vehicle on the Malahide Road Roundabout in Swords on October 29th, 2020.
He has 26 previous convictions, including offences for possession of drugs and firearms.
Judge Martin Nolan said Murray had "embarked on this enterprise as he was probably going to receive some kind of reward" but acknowledged that he is "unlikely to re-offend".
He accepted his admissions to gardaí in interview before he imposed a sentence of 20 months.
Detective Garda Patrick Hearne told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that a surveillance operation was set up following a garda tip-off outside Woodies on the Swords Road.
Murray was spotted driving his van into the car park before leaving his vehicle to go into the shop.
While he was in the shop, another vehicle with two occupants pulled into the car park. One of these men then placed an item in the back of Murray’s vehicle and got into the vehicle.
Det Gda Hearne said Murray left the shop, got into his vehicle and drove out of the car park. He was stopped a short time later and the drugs - almost 3kg of cannabis worth €59,790 - was found in the back of the van.
The detective agreed with the prosecution that Murray was "unable to help gardaí" with their investigation but later pleaded guilty to the offence before the court.
Det Gda Hearne agreed with Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, that gardaí are satisfied the drugs do not belong to Murray and his role was to transport them.
He accepted his guilty plea was of significant value to the prosecution of the case.
Mr O’Higgins said his client was raised by his maternal grandparents and lacked a father figure in his life.
He said in 2018, Murray’s grandfather, to whom he was very close, died and his brother was murdered in London a short time later.
Both events were very traumatic for Murray and he has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, defence counsel said.
He asked Judge Nolan to accept that his client’s guilty plea was of assistance to the prosecution of the case.
