Four men to be sentenced exactly one year after smuggling €31m of cocaine into West Cork

The four men — from Scotland, England and Germany — had already confirmed signed pleas of guilty to serious drugs charges in respect of the 440 kilos of cocaine

(Left to right) Christopher Hibbett, Mark Doherty, Ben Sandford, and Levent Gulay will be sentenced in July for drug-dealing and importation offences.

Sentencing in one of the country’s biggest ever drug hauls — the seizure of €31m worth of cocaine at Courtmacsherry last summer — was changed on Tuesday to July 1 with four men remanded in continuing custody until then.

The sentencing had been scheduled to take place on May 12 but on the application of prosecution senior counsel Donal O’Sullivan, Judge Helen Boyle put the sentencing hearing to July 1 instead.

Mr O’Sullivan said this new date would be subject to the relevant witnesses being available on that date and that if there were any difficulties with the new date of July 1 he would inform the court beforehand. He indicated that the sentencing evidence would be lengthy.

The four men — from Scotland, England and Germany — had already confirmed signed pleas of guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to serious drugs charges in respect of the 440 kilos of cocaine.

40-year-old Mark Doherty of Waterfoot Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland, 31-year-old Levent Gulay of SchwabenstraBe, Neu Ulm, Bavaria, Germany, 44-year-old Christopher Hibbett of Lower Park, Trissillian, Truro, Cornwall, England, and 39-year-old Ben Sandford of Woodgreen, Drumm Road, Keith, Moray, Scotland, all pleaded guilty to charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act, including the count of possession of more than €13,000 worth of cocaine for the purpose of sale or supply. 

The €13,000 figure is the threshold for a possible minimum sentence of 10 years, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and up to life imprisonment.

They also all confessed to importing the cocaine at Meelmane, Courtmacsherry, County Cork, on July 1, 2025.

All four also admitted possession of an article in connection with the commission of a crime on the same day. Mr Doherty and Mr Levant pleaded guilty to possession of mobile phones in connection with the commission of a crime, while Mr Sandford and Mr Hibbet both confessed to possession of a rigid inflatable boat in connection with the commission of a crime.

Various reports including probation or prison governor’s reports were previously sought by senior counsel Jane Hyland, Ray Boland, Alice Fawsett and Elizabeth O’Connell, respectively, for defendants, Mark Doherty, Ben Sandford, Christopher Hibbett and Levent Gulay.