Judge derides 'conniving, vicious and self-serving' defence by Cork woman convicted of drug possession

A Cork woman who was convicted of possession of illegal drugs in the district court was “devious, cunning and self-serving” in the way she contested the matter, according to the presiding judge.

Inspector Anthony Harrington told Macroom District Court that Elaine O’Shea, aged 36 of Cnoc An Luir, Ballymakeera, Co. Cork, was charged with one count of illegal possession of drugs, namely cannabis, contrary to Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The court heard that a warrant was obtained to search Ms O’Shea’s home and two gardaí went to the premises at 10.30am on February 2, 2024. There was nobody present at the time and the gardaí gained access through an open conservatory window and searched the property.

A small amount of cannabis valued at €100 was found in a plastic sweet container under a television as well as a weighing scales. The court was told that when she was contacted about the drugs O’Shea refused to give a statement.

Defence solicitor, Patrick Goold, said his client alleged that the property was “ransacked” as a result of the search and a note was left for her inside a plastic bag along with a cannabis joint butt asking her to ring Macroom Garda Station.

Elaine O’Shea said the cannabis was not hers but belonged to her brother who stayed at the house occasionally. She said her brother had repeatedly tried to tell gardaí that the cannabis was his but he was ignored.

Under cross-examination O’Shea said the joint butt was placed in a clean ashtray in her kitchen. Judge Joanne Carroll said O’Shea had attempted to damage the reputation of a member of An Garda Síochána by suggesting that a joint butt was placed in a bag with the note. 

She said O’Shea had then contradicted herself by saying the butt was in a clean ashtray in the kitchen. The judge said she had no doubt that O’Shea was guilty of possession of cannabis and regarded her approach to the case as “shocking in the extreme, conniving, vicious and self-serving”. 

O’Shea then began to use her mobile phone in court to text her mother. The judge added: “She seems quite prepared to defame other people and then she is texting in court. She has a serious problem with socialisation.”

O’Shea said she had made a mess of her early adulthood but was now trying to put things right for her two children. She said she had not smoked cannabis for three-and-a-half weeks and was going back to college to study social science. 

The court heard O’Shea had 20 previous convictions including two for possession of drugs, one for cultivation and one for drug driving.

Judge Carroll said a prison sentence could only be imposed on a fourth conviction for possession and as this was O’Shea’s third conviction she imposed a fine of €400. The judge said: “What’s much more serious than the offence is the way it was defended.”

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme