Courts / Mayo / Report

Mayo woman (40) found with €62k of cannabis herb

Date
2025-11-05

Stage
Sentence

Court
Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court

Primary locality
Ballina

County
Mayo

Summary

A 40-year-old woman from Ballina in County Mayo has pleaded guilty to possessing €62,000 worth of cannabis herb for sale or supply. Bernadette Muldoon, of St Patrick's estate, admitted the offence relating to drugs found at a different address on the same estate on 7 June last year. Gardaí discovered the cannabis in plastic bags and a protein tub following a tip-off search. A man fled the scene when officers arrived. Muldoon presented herself at Ballina Garda Station later that day and accepted responsibility for the drugs. She told gardaí she was holding them under duress due to a €3,000 drug debt and expressed fear for her safety after her home was damaged. The court heard she struggles with cocaine addiction. Judge Eoin Garavan adjourned sentencing to February 2026 to allow Muldoon to engage with probation services and address her substance misuse. The garda acknowledged the operation was not sophisticated and that Muldoon occupied a lower tier in the arrangement.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Mayo woman (40) found with €62k of cannabis herb. Charges or matters: possessing the drugs for sale or supply at a different address in the same estate on June 7, last year. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

June 7 Incident
2025-11-05 Publication

Why: A Mayo woman found with €62,000 of cannabis herb told gardaí she was holding the drugs under duress because of a drug debt. CNI source report

Case subjects

Bernadette Muldoon

Defendant

Charges: possessing the drugs for sale or supply at a different address in the same estate on June 7, last year (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: She told gardaí she was afraid to leave the house and had to get a taxi to Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court for the sentence hearing.; Judge Eoin Garavan adjourned sentencing to next February to give Muldoon an opportunity to engage with probation services and begin to address her addiction.