The Court of Appeal has upheld Aidan Conroy’s convictions on five cocaine-related offences arising from a customs search of his refrigerated articulated truck after he arrived by ferry from England.
Conroy, a self-employed haulier, was stopped shortly after midnight on August 20, 2015 while carrying a load of fruit imported from continental Europe. Customs officers directed him to a vehicle-search area and asked him to wait nearby while the truck was examined.
During the search, an officer found a fire extinguisher in a storage box in the cab which was suspected, and later shown, to contain cocaine.
Customs Officer Rafferty gave evidence that, while Conroy was being brought back towards the truck, he spontaneously said: “so you found the drugs then”. Conroy denied making any such remark.
He was subsequently arrested, cautioned and taken to Store Street Garda Station. At trial, the disputed comment was admitted into evidence. Conroy was convicted in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on October 20, 2018 of two counts of possession for sale or supply, two section 15A counts involving drugs worth more than €13,000, and one count of unlawful importation.
On appeal, Conroy argued that the comment should have been excluded because he had not been cautioned and because of the way it was recorded. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument. It found that he had not been questioned before making the alleged remark and that the later recording and putting of the statement to him substantially complied with the Judges’ Rules.
The court also allowed him to add a new appeal ground concerning corroboration, but rejected it on the merits. It held that the statutory corroboration rule is concerned with independent evidence tending to implicate an accused in the offence, not merely independent proof that a disputed confession or admission was actually spoken.
Both grounds failed and the conviction appeal was dismissed.