COUPLE HAD CANNABIS GROW HOUSE

A couple who claimed that they knew nothing about a cannabis growing operation at a house they were renting in North Louth and who were found guilty of knowingly allowing their premises to be used on May 4 2015 have benefited from the Probation Act.

Scottish nationals Leigh Johnston and Richard Grant (38), formerly of Rathban, Templestown, and now with an address at Deerpark Drive, Kiltipper, Tallaght, had pleaded not guilty at Dundalk District Court and the case was heard last year before Judge William Hamill.

Judge Hamill was told that in the early hours of the morning, Gardai had been called to the area to deal with an incident. When they arrived at the house, they found there was no answer and the doors were locked. Gardai spoke to Johnston who was at a neighbour’s house and she told Gardai Grant was not at the house and there was noone there.

But Gardai returned to the house to look for him and after ‘ banging on the door’ and shouting, they decided to force entry to the property as they believed Grant was inside.

When Gardai got in, there was no sign of anyone and one downstairs room was locked. Gardai said they believed it was somewhere Grant might have been so they forced entry.

Inside, they discovered a tent with a heating system hooked up to a timer and inside it, six cannabis plants. They found propagation equipment for the plants and preserved the scene for a technical examination. Gardai said the plants were worth €4,800.

Both Grant and Johnston were arrested on May 13 2015 and made no comment interviews.

Solicitor Conor MacGuill ar- gued that Gardai had no lawful reason to enter the house, they had no permission from anyone and they had no warrant to search the property. They had been told specifically that Grant was not at the house and had ‘no basis to assume’ that he was.

Mr MacGuill said the house had been rented from a private landlord via an agency and part of the tenancy agreement, which was produced in court, said that one of the bedrooms was to remain locked at all times.

The court heard from Johnston who said she and Grant had been living in the house for around 12 months at the time. She said the landlord had been at the house a couple of times, but she had never seen him in the room.

Judge Hamill said he was satisfied the couple were guilty of the offence and was told that Johnston has no previous convictions and Grant has one for a traffic offence. Mr MacGuill said they would benefit from a Probation report.

The cases were adjourned to last week, where Judge John Coughlan read the reports. He noted that Grant ‘is not accepting his guilt’ and Mr MacGuill said the case was fully contested on legal grounds and there were a lot of submissions made. Neither defendant has previous convictions.

Judge Coughlan said he would follow the recommendations of the probation reports and placed Grant on probation for 12 months. The judge said Johnston ‘comes across as a very decent and honourable woman’ and dismissed the charge under the Probation Act.