Courts / Dublin / Report

€2.5 million ecstasy charge dropped after appeal court ruling

Summary

The State dropped a charge of possession of €2.5 million worth of ecstasy after the Court of Appeal ruled that ecstasy and other drugs were unconstitutionally banned. The accused, who also had a similar amount of cannabis, had already pleaded guilty to possessing over 250,000 ecstasy tablets for sale or supply in 2013. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions asked the court to withdraw the ecstasy charge and proceed solely on the cannabis counts. The case involves Gary Byrne (42) of Belcamp Gardens, Coolock, Dublin, who pleaded guilty to possession of €2.52 million worth of cannabis resin and herb. He will be sentenced by Judge Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Byrne has a prior conviction for stealing Rohypnol from a pharmaceutical firm. At the sentencing hearing, Mr McGillicuddy presented evidence from the Garda National Drugs Unit that Byrne was the subject of a surveillance operation on 4 June 2013.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: €2.5 million ecstasy charge dropped after appeal court ruling. Charges or matters: possession of a total of €2.52 million worth of cannabis resin and cannabis herb at Rosemount Business Park in Ballycoolin and North West Business Centre in Blanchardstown in June 2013. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• June 2013 Incident
• June 4, 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2015-03-16 Publication

Why: Tony McGillicuddy BL, for the DPP, said the change was because of the "Bederev Judgement" in which the appeal court issued a ruling that ecstasy and other drugs were unconstitutionally banned. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Appeal Theft

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Read the original CNI report