Smuggler said he’d mended his ways

A former restaurateur jailed for 15 years for importing almost €80,000 worth of cannabis featured in a TV documentary on how he had mended his ways after getting a seven-year sentence in 2000 for importing drugs worth over €1.65m.

Patrick Scanlon, aged 54, originally from Lougill, Co Limerick, and also with an address in Jersey, had denied four charges of importing drugs for sale or supply.

Alice Fawsitt, defending, said Scanlon had chronic drug and gambling problems.