Court of Appeal disposed to order Roy Carroll retrial on cocaine charge

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

The Court of Appeal said it was disposed to order a retrial for Roy Carroll and returned his case to Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 15 October 2021.

Carroll, then 28, of Farranferris Park, Farranree, Cork, had pleaded not guilty to possessing cocaine for sale or supply under section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. A jury found him guilty, and on 25 February 2020 Judge Brian O’Callaghan sentenced him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to four years in jail, with 18 months suspended.

In a judgment issued on 13 October 2021, the Court of Appeal found the trial unsatisfactory because the jury had not been properly directed about inferences from Carroll’s silence during garda interviews. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the verdict was unsafe. The conviction was quashed.

At the Court of Appeal on 15 October, Donal T McCarthy BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the DPP intended to retry the matter based on the garda evidence. Defence counsel Paula McCarthy BL said that, if there were a retrial and conviction, her client would already have served the majority of any sentence imposed.

Gardaí said they saw Carroll drop a white package while running from a car search at the M8 toll plaza near Watergrasshill on 10 January 2018. The package was found to contain 124.6 grams of cocaine worth €8,722. Carroll told the jury he fled because he panicked when the driver shouted “run”. He said he had not answered garda questions because he had been advised of his right to remain silent.