Driver had 5kg of cannabis in cab

A hackney driver was caught with 5kg of cannabis worth over €30,000 in the boot of his car and faced a 10-year jail term. However, yesterday the sentencing judge said a five-year suspended sentence was appropriate.

Ultan Moore faced sentencing on a charge which can carry a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said: “A sentence of imprisonment would not be warranted.”

Background factors included the defendant’s plea of guilty and his co-operation with the probation service. Defence barrister Peter O’Flynn said Moore had done everything asked of him in this regard.

Detective Garda Pat Condon previously gave evidence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court of the circumstances of the detection of Moore, aged 48, of 60, Old Court, Greenfields, Ballincollig, Co Cork, and charging him with a drug-related charges, the most serious of which was one of having over €13,000 worth of drugs.

Det Garda Condon said gardaí saw Moore driving his hackney car at Greenfields in Ballincollig on September 18, 2013.

“In the boot of the car we found 5kg of cannabis resin with a street value of €31,698,” Garda Condon said.

During a follow-up search of a house, a further €2,500 worth of cannabis resin was seized. Moore pleaded guilty to charges of possession of cannabis and having it for supply at two locations, namely his home and at Fern Walk, Greenfields, Ballincollig.

Moore previously ran a taxi business, then took up a job as a hackney driver, and has now lost his public service vehicle licence as a result of these drugs convictions.

Defence barrister, Peter O’Flynn, said Moore had changed his life substantially since he was caught.

Det Garda Condon said of Moore: “His attitude has changed. He had a bit of a cavalier attitude with the probation service towards cannabis.

“He was using it since he was a teenager. He always felt he had no problem with cannabis.”