A young man who was brought up in a drug culture was caught driving with vacuum-packed cannabis to the value of €15,000 and he tried to throw away his phone as gardaí approached.

Garda James Quirke said gardaí were operating a checkpoint at 11.30 that morning and stopped the car driven by the defendant, Tadgh Callow of Coolmountain, Dunmanway.

Gardaí told the 26-year-old driver of the Audi A3 that they were going to conduct a search because they had suspicions about drugs.

The young man denied having anything in the vehicle and he tried to discard the phone, Garda Quirke said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

“We found two vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis herb with a value of €15,000.

“He said he was aware it was cannabis. He picked it up in a location in West Cork and was transporting it to Kildare. He had no previous convictions,” Garda Quirke said.

Defence barrister Peter O’Flynn said, “He was brought up in a drug culture.” 

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin remarked that if he was the one who said that, there would be a complaint to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

The judge said he was not minimising the attempt to dispose of the phone but he would not send the young man to jail on the charge of having the drugs for sale or supply.

He imposed a sentence of 18 months which he suspended.

However, the judge said he was concerned that the car was used in the course of transporting drugs so he was also disqualifying him from driving for 12 months.