Cork Circuit Court set to hear Bantry case involving €645,000 of drugs

A BOOK of evidence containing 94 charges has been served on three people alleged to have been involved in drug-related offences worth an estimated €645,000.

All three have been sent forward to the next sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court, which commences on January 30th.

The vast majority of the charges – 77 in total – were served on Helen Stone of Kilnaknappogue, Kealkil, owner of The Funky Skunk at Glengarriff Road in Bantry.

Among the charges against Helen Stone, who is legally represented by solicitor Colette McCarthy, are 17 counts of having cannabis for sale or supply; 19 charges of possession of cannabis; 16 charges of allowing business premises to be used for the sale and supply of drugs; four charges of having, cannabis worth in excess of €13,000 for sale or supply; and one charge of selling a psychoactive substance.

Gda Eoin Concannon gave evidence at the recent sitting of Bantry District Court that seven new charges – relating to more recent alleged offences at The Funky Skunk on January 31st 2022 – have been brought against the second-named accused Donovan Linde of Ardnatrash, Glengarriff, which brings the total number of charges against him to 12.

The new charges against Donovan Linde include two counts of possession of cannabis; two counts of possession of cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply; permitting the sale or supply of a controlled drug in a premises; possession of cannabis resin; possession of cannabis resin for sale or supply.

Sgt Trish O’Sullivan was the court presenter in the case, but it was Supt David Callaghan who asked Judge John King to place an additional condition on Donovan Linde’s bail. Supt Callaghan raised concerns in relation to ‘the ongoing sale of product that is similar to the product that was seized during the course of the investigation’.

The superintendent asked the judge to instruct Donovan Linde, who is being legally represented by Flor Murphy solicitor, to ‘discontinue this activity.’

The argument gave an early indication that the one or more of the accused are likely to rely on a defence, during their trial, that the product in their possession was not cannabis but something synthetic.

Judge King declined to make such an order saying that the prosecution could, if they wished, object to bail and that objection would be considered by the court.

In the absence of a formal objection, Judge King said he was unable to make such a ruling.

No such application was made in respect of the thirdnamed accused Jack Palmer of 108 Shandon Street in Cork, who is also being represented by Flor Murphy.

Jack Palmer is facing one charge of having cannabis, valued more than €13,000, for sale or supply.

Two charges of having cannabis for sale or supply have also been brought against Jack Palmer, as well as two charges of cannabis possession.

The preparation of the book of evidence resulted in numerous adjournments but Sgt O’Sullivan outlined how the prosecution was the result of a three-year investigation.

The investigation was carried out by gardaí at Bantry Garda Station, the Cork West Divisional Drugs Unit, and Store Street Garda Station in Dublin, with the assistance of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Health.

It is alleged that some of the offences were carried out at The Funky Skunk business premises in Bantry, Cork and Dublin, as well as two warehousing units at Colomane in Bantry.

During the course of these searches, gardaí seized €645,000 cannabis and cannabis-related products as part of a series of alleged offences between November 14th 2018 and October 12th 2020.