Soldier caught with almost €10,000 of cannabis allowed to stay in Defence Forces

A soldier who was caught with €9,814 worth of cannabis will be allowed stay in the Defence Forces after being spared a prison sentence.

Army Corporal Damian Flood of Scribblestown Avenue in Finglas, Dublin was arrested in Rathfarnham after gardaí seized the drugs from his car in March 2013.

The father-of-two told the court the cannabis was to be used to ease the suffering of his wife, who was dying from breast cancer at the time. He pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs for sale or supply.

A prison sentence would have brought an end to his career in the Army, but in light of what she described as the "unusual circumstances and the service he's already done for the country", Judge Mary Ellen Ring decided to make a probation order instead.