Dublin man jailed for four years for holding €200k of cannabis in garden shed

A 48-year-old Dublin man has been sentenced to four years imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following his guilty plea to possession of cannabis worth €200,000. The defendant, of Clondalkin, stored the drugs in 19 bags within a garden shed at his home on 22 February 2014, with the intention of using them as security against a personal drug debt. Gardaí discovered the cannabis during a search of the property when the man's two children were present. He arrived home shortly afterwards and immediately admitted responsibility for the controlled substance. The court heard he had no previous convictions and was a trained chef with a work history as a truck driver. Judge Martin Nolan noted the defendant had been exploited by those to whom he owed money and accepted his cooperation with gardaí and immediate admissions. The judge described the offence as an isolated lapse in judgment by a man of mature years, though acknowledged the seriousness of the breach.