€17k ecstasy charge withdrawn after court ruling

The DPP has withdrawn a charge against a man caught with over €17,000 worth of ecstasy in light of Tuesday’s Court of Appeal judgment.

Darren Snee, aged 25, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to possession of the drug for sale or supply hours before the appeal court issued its judgment, which ruled that a range of drugs including ecstasy were legal as they were unconstitutionally banned by the Government.

The drugs concerned are illegal again after emergency legislation was rushed through the Oireachtas.

Snee still faces sentence later this month for possession for sale or supply of cannabis worth €819 and cocaine valued at €399. Both of these drugs were unaffected by the ruling.

Snee, of Oak Court Close, Palmerstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cocaine, cannabis and MDMA, otherwise known as ecstasy, for sale or supply at his home on November 18, 2013.

After the guilty plea on Tuesday, Judge Martin Nolan remanded Snee in custody pending sentence. When Pieter Le Vert, defending, heard about the appeal court ruling over lunch, he made an application for his release which was denied.

Yesterday counsel for the prosecution asked Judge Nolan to vacate Snee’s guilty plea to the ecstasy charge and to withdraw this count.

The judge consented but reaffirmed his decision to continue to remand Snee in custody on the remaining two counts. “I was very much aware of the judgment. But that didn’t change my mind as I was 99% sure what I was going to do in the case. And I think Mr Le Vert was aware of what I was going to do.” He will pass sentence on Snee on March 27.

On Tuesday Det Garda John McWeeney said Snee was seen handing cannabis to known drug users outside his house in Palmerstown. A search of the house also found six bags of cocaine, a bag of rock cocaine and 24 deals of cannabis herb.

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