Cork man caught with €46,000 cannabis stash in woodland after Garda surveillance operation

Offence dated back to 2014 but accused fled to the UK where he spent time in custody for dealing cocaine, court told

Accused had received a five-year sentence in June 2004 for having 10kg of cannabis with a street value of €200,000, court heard. Picture: Getty

Confidential information led gardaí to an isolated area near Bandon, where €46,700 worth of cannabis was hidden in woodland, and the scene was kept under surveillance until a man arrived to move the stash.

Gardaí moved in from their concealed positions and arrested Jeremiah O’Mahony at Old Park, Templemartin, Bandon, Co Cork.

The incident, which was recounted at a sentencing hearing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, dated back a considerable period to July 3, 2014.

Jeremiah O’Mahony, who was living at 56 Edward Walsh Road, Togher, Cork, at the time of the offence, was 51 years old at the time. Now aged 63, he was sentenced by Judge Helen Boyle to seven and a half years imprisonment but, significantly, the sentence was backdated to April 8, 2021, in recognition of time spent in custody in the UK.

Details of the drugs operation conducted by the accused on that day almost 12 years ago included the fact he wore surgical gloves when he was handling the cannabis.

When interviewed by gardaí at the time, he admitted storing and distributing the drugs, claiming he had a drug debt of €11,000 at the time which he was trying to clear.

Judge Boyle said one of O’Mahony’s convictions that was particularly relevant was a five-year sentence he got in June 29, 2004, for having 10kg of cannabis with a street value of €200,000.

Believing he was facing the prospect of a lengthy sentence, he fled to the UK, where he worked for a number of years. However, he lost his job in 2020 and fell back into the drugs trade and was sentenced to 12 years for dealing cocaine in the UK.

He returned recently to Ireland and was brought before the courts for the dealing offence from Bandon in 2014.

Judge Boyle imposed the sentence of seven and a half years, backdated to April 2021. She said the previous conviction from 2004 was a serious aggravating factor, and the more recent conviction in the UK influenced her decision not to suspend any portion of the seven and a half years.