8 year sentence for cannabis possession

A 28 year old man found with over €1 million worth of cannabis has been jailed for eight years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Fergus Bennett, of Emmett Road, Inchicore, pleaded guilty to possession of the 162. 814 kilograms of cannabis on May 6, 2004, in the Phibsboro area of Dublin.

Detective Garda Grainne McCormack told prosecuting counsel, Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, that Bennett was driving a van when gardai stopped him. Gardaí had received confidential information that Bennett was transporting a substantial amount of drugs in the vehicle.

A search revealed the cannabis, worth a total of €1,137,698, packed into packages concealed in the van. Det Gda McCormack said Bennett admitted his involvement in transporting the drugs. Fear for his life and family, however, stopped him from being of material assistance to the gardai, she said.

Bennett’s counsel, Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, told Judge Michael White that Bennett had co-operated with gardai to the fullest extent he could without endangering his family. The father of one, Bennett had been a chronic drug addict since the age of 12.

Ms Kennedy also told the court that Bennett had accumulated large debts as a result of his drug addiction. He became involved in transporting the drugs as a means of repaying the debts, but had not stood to gain financially in any other way, Ms Kennedy said.

Judge White said he was convinced that Bennett’s fear of repercussions was genuine. He suspended the last 18 months of the sentence in consideration of his personal circumstances and decided to exercise his discretion in not imposing the mandatory 10 year minimum sentence for the offence.