Gardaí ‘could smell drugs from street’

A man was caught with a cannabis growhouse in his apartment after gardaí on patrol smelled the odour that was being carried onto a city centre street through a makeshift air duct.

Sebastian Charzynski, 30, was growing 45 cannabis plants in a specialised tent in this sitting room. He had placed a large air duct coming from the tent through opened windows in the apartment which carried the strong smell onto Dublin’s Aungier St.

At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Garda Patrick Martin told Grainne O’Neill BL, prosecuting that he suspected the smell was coming from Charzynski’s apartment in the Grafton Hall complex after he went into the building, having first got the odour from the street while on routine patrol.

He could also hear a loud noise, which he suspected was coming from running fans.

Garda Martin returned shortly later with a warrant and forced entry into the flat. Charyzynski was in his sitting room at the time, where the smaller cannabis plants were growing in the tent.

A further 51 mature plants were found in another room along with the appropriate ventilation system.

Charyzynski of Crumlin Rd, Crumlin, pleaded guilty to possession of the cannabis, with an estimated value of €77,600 and cultivation of the plants at the apartment on October 25, 2014. His three previous convictions are for drink-driving and having no tax and insurance.

Judge Martin Nolan said there was no evidence of the drugs being prepared for distribution or Charyzynski making a profit from drug dealing.

He said that, on that basis, it would be unjust to jail him. He sentenced Charyzynski to four years in prison, which he suspended in full on strict conditions.

Garda Martin agreed with Diarmaid McGuinness, SC, defending, that it was easy to identify where the smell of cannabis had been coming from before he went into the building.

He agreed that Charyzynski claimed that he had been using the drugs for medical problems, some of which were a result of a road traffic accident in 2010. He became addicted and decided to grow his own cannabis.

Mr McGuinness handed in medical reports into court which stated his client had a dislocated vertebrae.

He asked the court to accept that his client was not charged with either selling or supplying drugs.