Garda pleads not guilty to theft of €70 of cannabis
A GARDA has pleaded not guilty to breaking into a colleague’s locker to steal a €70 cannabis exhibit and possessing it for sale or supply.
Holly Lane, 34, of Store Street station, who was charged with four offences on December 12, 2021, appeared again at Dublin District Court yesterday.
She is accused of causing criminal damage to a locker, theft of a cannabis exhibit from another garda, unlawful possession of the cannabis and having it for sale or supply.
At an earlier stage, the court had ordered disclosure of prosecution evidence, including CCTV footage, to the defence.
The court had also heard that ‘the Director of Public Prosecutions directed summary disposal on all matters’.
State solicitor Tom Conlon said he had responded to the defence about supplemental disclosure.
Judge Michèle Finan asked for an outline of the allegations to consider her trial venue.
Detective Superintendent Mark Jordan told the court it was alleged that ‘the defendant, a member of An Garda Síochána, while on duty, forcibly opened a colleague’s locker, causing damage to the door and mechanism’. The value of the damage was €30, the court heard.
Det Supt Jordan said it was alleged the defendant stole cannabis, which had been an exhibit in a pending criminal case.
He also told the court the cannabis was valued at about €70 and has been recovered.
The court heard it was claimed
‘Had it for purpose of sale or supply’
Garda Lane ‘stole and had it in her possession for the purpose of sale or supply’.
Judge Finan accepted jurisdiction for the case to stay in the District Court and not go to the Circuit Court, which has wider sentencing powers.
Garda Lane’s solicitor applied for a hearing date and confirmed that her client had pleaded not guilty.
The accused could have also opted for a jury trial in the Circuit Court but told Judge Finan that she wished to have it in the non-jury District Court.
Judge Finan adjourned the case and remanded the accused on continuing bail to appear again on November 6 to be allocated a hearing date.
Earlier, the court heard she ‘made no reply to the charges after caution’.