A vulnerable man agreed to store a large quantity of drugs totalling €83,000 at his home in Passage West and now he has been jailed for two years.

58-year-old Peter Holbrook was sentenced to three years with the last year suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to a variety of drug-dealing charges.

Detective Garda Robert Kennedy said officers from the divisional drugs unit went to the home of the accused at Maulbawn in Passage West, County Cork, on November 9 2018.

“In the rear of this property were two garden sheds where €83,000 worth of controlled drugs were found,” Det Garda Kennedy said.

These included €43,000 worth of cannabis resin, €11,000 of cannabis herb, MDMA (ecstasy) tablets with a street value of €9,000, cocaine worth €1,600 and a variety of other tablets worth over €18,000.

Judge Dara Hayes said, “The accused is a vulnerable character with a cannabis addiction and he was under threat. This is a case where a vulnerable man was preyed upon by criminals and forced into this role.

“He participated at a very low level but his involvement went beyond using to allowing his shed to be used as a store. Aggravating factors include the serious nature of the offence and the harm caused to society by drugs such as these.

“The accused was operating under some level of threat. His culpability was low. In mitigation, he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He made admissions at the scene and repeated the admissions at interview.”

Det Garda Kennedy said that following the search, “He was arrested and conveyed to the Bridewell garda station where he was interviewed on two occasions. He made certain admissions to be a store person working for a boss man. His role was to weigh out controlled drugs and bag them.”

Defence barrister Sharon Brooks clarified that while he was storing a range of drugs, the weighing and bagging activity was in relation to cannabis only. In respect of the other drugs he was storing them, Ms Brooks said. Ms Brooks BL said, “He is a cannabis addict and has been for quite some time. He certainly was not a major player by any stretch.”

Det Garda Kennedy agreed that the accused was a vulnerable man who was forced into the role by another person who was not identified.