Man found retrieving 9kg of cannabis from ditch said he was hunting rabbits

Cork man found guilty on drugs supply charges told the court he was checking out a field in Watergrasshill for 'lamping' when caught by a garda

Karl Humphries, 38, told Circuit Criminal Court he was checking the suitability of a field for dazzling when a detective garda from the drugs squad emerged from the ditch and caught on to him. File picture

“Where was Fido?” That was the question asked by the judge in the trial by jury of a man allegedly retrieving more than 9kg of cannabis resin from a ditch who claimed he was looking for rabbits to hunt.

Karl Humphries – who has just been found guilty on drugs supply charges – said he always kept dogs and had been going hunting all his life and this included "dazzling" or "lamping" rabbits in fields.