The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Michael Tanner’s appeal and upheld his conviction on three counts of unlawful possession of controlled drugs. The appeal concerned whether there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that he possessed drugs found in a car parked in a rented space in Cork.
Tanner and James Tobin were arraigned on the charges in November 2005. Tobin pleaded guilty. Tanner pleaded not guilty and was convicted by a jury after a trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. He received a 15-year sentence on one count; the other counts were taken into account. The appeal court judgment does not state the sentence’s current status.
The appeal court reviewed evidence that Tanner rented a designated parking space at South Terrace Court in Cork from May 2003, renewing the arrangement over successive periods into 2004. The complex manager identified him as the renter. He used the name Joseph Hogan, paid cash and provided a mobile number but no address.
Gardaí found cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy in the boot of a Ford Escort parked in the space on 3 June 2004. The judgment puts the drugs’ value at just under €500,000 and says the car was dusty, suggesting it had been parked there for some time. A key to the Escort had been found in Tobin’s car the previous day. The mobile number given for the parking rental was linked to a phone found with Tobin.
The judgment also recounts evidence that, while at a Garda station, Tanner was overheard saying: “If the alarm goes of in my car, you can break the window.” Gardaí went to his home at Inchydoney. They found his Honda’s alarm sounding, a side window broken, and a parking access card in a compartment in the driver’s door.
Tanner’s counsel argued that the prosecution had not shown he knew what was in the Escort’s boot. The appeal court said possession can include control exercised through another person, and that the required mental element can be established by awareness of the substance or reckless disregard of what it might be. It considered the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s inference of possession and said it pointed to a joint enterprise between Tanner and Tobin.
The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction. The judgment does not set out a new sentencing order.