Cork man attempted to save for house by dealing cannabis

Cannabis was used by a man who thought it would help his mental health issues, and later he began dealing the drug in the hope of raising money to buy a house, a court has heard.

The ill-fated scheme was quickly discovered by gardaí in Fermoy, who charged the 43-year-old and brought him ultimately before Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Garda Cormac Axson gave evidence of the search conducted on foot of a warrant obtained by Detective Garda Bryan Murphy. On December 1, 2023, the warrant was used to search Neil Shanahan’s then residence at Waterside Apartments in Fermoy that evening.

Shanahan was present at the time. A large number of cannabis bags were found, and the drugs had a total street value of €7,800.

“He accepted at the time that the drugs were in his possession for the purpose of sale or supply,” Garda Axson said. 

“I am aware he suffered from mental health issues.”

Defence barrister Elaine Audley said on behalf of Shanahan: “He presents as co-operative, and has mental health issues. He has done extremely well under the guidance of probation officers.

“He engaged in this activity to try and house himself. It was an economic motivation, and was not at all successful.

“He is ashamed of his actions. He is working full-time, and the garda confirms he is now a more stable person.

“The probation report says that what was going on here was that a man with a significant history of mental health issues was using cannabis foolishly to treat himself and also thought that through selling it he could save up money to buy a house.”

Judge Dermot Sheehan said: “The guard’s view is that he has learned his lesson. This is a man with severe mental health issues. He has affirmed his signed plea of guilty.

“This is a serious matter. The headline sentence is one of five years.

“I will reduce that to three years in prison, and having regard to unusual background features in this particular case, I think it would be more appropriate to suspend the sentence fully.”