Andrezej Pacek denied legal aid in cannabis proceeds case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Andrezej Pacek was refused legal aid to defend a Criminal Assets Bureau claim that a house where approximately €1 million of cannabis was found growing was acquired with the proceeds of crime. The proceedings were reported on 25 October 2018.

Gardaí arrested two men after discovering a cannabis growhouse in Hollyford, Co Tipperary, in September 2016. In 2017, Clonmel Circuit Court sentenced Pacek and Przemylaw Pstrowski each to ten years in prison, with the final six years suspended. They were jailed for possessing a controlled drug worth €13,000 or more for unlawful sale or supply.

CAB obtained a freezing order over the house at Lacknacreeney, Hollyford. Pacek denied its proceeds-of-crime claim. In a sworn statement, he said the house was his only asset and that he bought it with savings from the sale of his transport business in Poland in 2006. He said he had sold about nine vehicles from the business before moving to Ireland.

Pacek said he could not afford lawyers. CAB opposed his application, and its counsel Michael Binchy said there had been unexplained four-figure lodgements to Pacek’s bank accounts before the purchase. Ms Justice Carmel Stewart dismissed the application. The court noted that Pacek’s imprisonment caused translation difficulties for his legal team, but the judge said the explanations offered and lack of supporting documentation meant the interests of justice did not merit legal aid. She adjourned the case to a date in November.