Dean McCarthy jailed for €1.7m cannabis possession

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

Dean McCarthy was jailed for six years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possessing €1.674 million worth of cannabis. The proceedings were reported on 5 March 2017.

He had pleaded guilty to possessing the cannabis. The offence occurred in Finglas on 26 June 2015.

A customs officer at Highland Shipping in Finglas found 115 packets of cannabis weighing nearly 84kg, hidden in a pallet of vintage clothing. McCarthy collected the pallet in a transit van and drove to a pub car park, where he handed the keys to another man. That man drove the van to Balbutcher Lane in Ballymun and fled when gardaí moved in, leaving it behind.

In interview, McCarthy said he did not know what was in the pallet. Detective Garda Eamon Tighe told prosecuting counsel, Garret Baker BL, that he did not believe McCarthy knew the pallet contained so much cannabis.

Defence counsel, Caroline Biggs SC, said McCarthy was being used by others to “do the dirty work” and had participated to pay off a debt his partner had run up. The court heard the pallet was addressed to his partner, who had not been charged.

Judge Melanie Greally described his role as “limited though responsible”. She accepted that he lacked “precise knowledge of the amount of drugs involved” and that his role was limited to collecting the drugs for onwards movement. She considered his early guilty plea, lack of significant previous convictions, good employment record and family support.