Cork man caught with €2.7k of cannabis should get 'about eight months' in jail, says judge

The defendant was given until March 11, 2026, to gather €4,000 for a charity donation and hand it in to Youghal District Court or else he would be sent to prison

Gardaí found more than €2,500 worth of cannabis. File picture

A Cork man who admitted possession of more than €2,500 worth of cannabis should be going to prison despite pleading guilty to two counts of simple possession and two counts of possession for sale or supply, according to a district court judge.

Court presenter, Inspector Michael Hogan, told a recent sitting of Youghal District Court that gardaí attended to a report of an intoxicated male in Carrigtwohill in East Cork on August 24, 2023. When they spoke to the man, identified as Conor Curley, aged 56 of Knockaverry, Youghal, Co Cork, they noticed a strong smell of cannabis.

Mr Curley was searched and cannabis with a street value of €1,260 was discovered on his person. A further search was carried out at Mr Curley’s home in Youghal where cannabis valued at €1,500 was also discovered. 

The court heard that Mr Curley made full admissions and was fully co-operative with gardaí. The court was told that in a statement given after his arrest Mr Curley had admitted giving cannabis “to a fella working for me” as part payment. 

Insp. Hogan said that the accused man had seven previous convictions including one for possession of drugs while the remainder were all road traffic related.

Defence solicitor, Vicki Buckley, said that Mr Curley had suffered a serious injury in 2023 and during the period from March to August of that year he was using cannabis to self-medicate. Ms Buckley said that Mr Curley had “gone through a period of his life when he was dependent” but had not come to garda attention since. 

She added that he had recently taken up employment as a bus driver where strict policies were in place to prevent illegal drug use. Judge Brian O’Shea said he did not believe that Mr Curley had such an amount of drugs on his person for medicinal purposes. 

The judge said that the appropriate sentence would be “about eight months”. He added: “What does it say to the public that somebody can have €1,260 worth of cannabis on them and another €1,500 at home and expect to walk out of court?”

Judge O’Shea adjourned the case to March 11, 2026, to allow Mr Curley time to gather €4,000 for a charity donation. He warned that if the donation was not handed to the court on that date that Mr Curley could expect an eight-month sentence.

• This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme