Appeal rejected for man who transported cannabis worth €2.5m to pay gambling debt
Eoin Reynolds
A man who transported more than €2.5 million worth of cannabis to reduce his gambling debt by €13,000 has failed in an appeal against the severity of his nine-year prison sentence.
George Finglas, with an address on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty last year to possession of more than 128kg of cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply. He appealed the severity of his sentence on the basis that it was excessive.
Ms Justice Tara Burns delivered the judgement of the three-judge Court of Appeal on Tuesday, rejecting all grounds of appeal. She said that the sentencing judge had made no error in principle in setting the nine-year sentence and found the sentence was not disproportionate.
Evidence
On February 2nd, 2021, Revenue officials inspecting freight at Dublin Port using a sniffer dog discovered two pallets of cannabis herb covered over by portable gas heaters.
Gardaí from the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau set up a surveillance operation and carried out a controlled delivery of the consignment to an industrial estate in west Dublin.
At a hearing in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last year, Detective Garda Jerome Twomey told Edward Doocey BL, prosecuting, that a person arrived at these premises before Finglas arrived separately in a rented van. The first person then directed Finglas and another man to unload the pallets into the rental van.
Finglas drove the cannabis to a commercial premises in Lusk, Co Dublin where gardaí decided to move in and arrest Finglas.
Search
Officers found three mobile phones in the rented van, including an encrypted phone. The encrypted phone was open and unlocked and investigators were able to read some of the messages.
There were messages referring to “129 bits for collection” which Det Gda Twomey said was a reference to the drugs. Another message to Finglas stated: “Another 13,000 wages for you this week mate.”
The cannabis herb weighed 128.45kg, with an estimated street value of €2.56 million.
After four interviews, Finglas gave gardaí a prepared statement in which he admitted moving the drugs and said he did so under direction. He said he was told to take the drugs to the second premises and strip them down.
He said he had built up a debt of €25,000 from a gambling problem and was in fear of the people to whom he owed the money.
The court also heard that Finglas had no previous convictions and entered an early guilty plea for the offence. His lawyers argued during his sentencing hearing that Finglas was identified as a "vulnerable person by more ruthless criminals who exploited this debt and directed the applicant to take possession of the drugs".
