Courts / Dublin / Report

Truck driver gets 8.5 years for importing €2.2m in cannabis

Summary

Gerard Donnelly, a 45‑year‑old truck driver from Omagh, was sentenced to eight‑and‑a‑half years' imprisonment for importing €2.2 million worth of cannabis into Ireland. On 27 September 2017, a trailer he was driving was inspected at Dublin Port; a drug‑detection dog alerted customs officials, and an X‑ray scan revealed 342 kg of herbal cannabis and 8 kg of cannabis resin hidden in pallets at the rear of the trailer. Donnelly pleaded guilty at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He claimed he was merely a courier, having been directed to transport the load for a customer of his employer, and that he was unaware of the quantity of drugs. The court accepted that he had no prior convictions, had been on bail, and had voluntarily entered custody after pleading guilty. Judge Martin Nolan imposed the sentence, back‑dating it to the date he first entered custody on 1 March.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Truck driver gets 8.5 years for importing €2.2m in cannabis. Charges or matters: the importation of cannabis at Dublin Port on September 27, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• September 27, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
• March 1 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2021-05-14 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report