Man jailed for converting his property into cannabis growhouse

Eimear Dodd and Sonya McLean

A Dublin man who set up a “sophisticated” cannabis growhouse has been jailed for four years.

Garry Gibson (39) of Kilcarrig Close, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply on May 3rd, 2023 at another address in Tallaght. He has no previous convictions.

Imposing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Elva Duffy acknowledged that Gibson accepted that he had carried out the modifications at the property to set up the growhouse.

She accepted that he had been under financial pressure at the time due to his mortgage payments increasing and that his acceptance of his involvement assisted the investigation.

Judge Duffy accepted that this was out of character for Gibson but said he had the “wherewithal to know better” than to get involved in such an offence.

Evidence

She further accepted evidence that he no longer takes cannabis but said while he was not at the highest level of the operation, he was “not a gillie” either and that he engaged in the offence for profit.

Judge Duffy set a headline sentence of seven and half years before she imposed a sentence of five years. She suspended the final 12 months of the term on strict conditions.

The court heard that when gardaí searched the property, they found the attic and upper floor had been converted into a cannabis growhouse.

Gibson was not at the house during the search, but documents found there identified him as the property's owner.

Fifty mature cannabis plants, worth around €800 each, were seized alongside 1.4kg of cannabis, valued at €28,149. The total value of drugs seized was over €68,149.

An investigating Garda told Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, that the setup in the house was "sophisticated".

Gibson was arrested after his vehicle was stopped a short time later. During interview, he accepted he owned the house and lived with his partner at another address.

Gibson outlined that he is working but had previously injured his arm and couldn't work for a time.

Prepared statement

In a prepared statement to gardaí, he took responsibility for the cannabis, outlining that he was in mortgage arrears and didn't see another way out. He admitted he bypassed the electricity and set out the growhouse.

The Garda agreed with John Berry SC, defending, that his client has not come to negative attention since this incident. It was further accepted that the search of the house was suspended until the ESB arrived because the electricity had been bypassed.

It was further agreed that Gibson told gardaí there had already been two or three cultivation cycles in the house.

Mr Berry said his client denied having an addiction to cannabis when he was interviewed by gardaí but accepts that he had an issue with the drug. The Garda accepted that there can be reasons why a person may not admit they have an issue with drugs while in a Garda station.

Later, Mr Berry told the court his client was concerned admitting to a drug addiction would make his situation worse.

The Garda agreed there was an early guilty plea which was a benefit to the prosecution.

A number of references and other documents were handed to the court.

Mr Berry acknowledged his client acted as he did for profit, but said he was in mortgage arrears and facing increased repayments. He asked the court to consider this at the lower end of the scale in relation to the production and distribution of drugs.

Gibson started to use drugs after his mother's death in 2016 but has made efforts to deal with his addiction. Urine analysis was also provided to the court.