Abbeyshrule growhouse accused has case adjourned to October

A man charged with cultivation of cannabis plants has had his case adjourned to the October sittings of Longford Circuit Court, so that the court can be furnished with a probation report.

Mark Bird was charged with cultivating a number of cannabis plants at an address in Cloghan, Abbeyshrule in 2014. He was further charged with possession of a controlled drug, namely cannabis.

Mr Bird entered a guilty plea to the cultivation charge in May 2016 but a bench warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court in February 2017.

Giving evidence to the court, Gda Barry Gillespie explained that a search warrant was executed on May 18, 2014 and, during the course of the search, 55 small cannabis plants were discovered in a bedroom.

There was also a substantial amount of equipment in the home, which had not yet been set up. €280 worth of cannabis was also discovered, which Mr Bird admitted was for personal use.

“The cannabis plants were discovered in a wardrobe with a lighting system,” Gda Gillespie explained.

“They were only a couple of inches in height and looked like they had only recently been brought into the house.”

Mr Bird, Gda Gillespie added, told gardaí that he and his brother, who has since passed away, were watering the plants to pay off a drug debt.

“The plants had a potential value of €44,000 if they’d been full-sized plants,” said Gda Gillespie, who added that Mr Bird and his brother were “at the bottom of the food chain” and would not have benefited from anything that was grown or sold from the house.

It was also revealed that the €44,000 potential value was estimated and that some of the plants found in the house would not have been viable.

Despite the fact that Mr Bird didn’t appear in court when the matter was due to be finalised, Gda Gillespie said that he does not have any concerns going forward.

“He does appear to be turning his life around,” he said.

Judge Johnson commended Gda Gillespie for “being very fair in the evidence he gave” and acknowledged the fact that Mr Bird had “cooperated fully” with gardaí and was not going to benefit from the cultivation of the plants.

His guilty plea and the fact that he had spent some time in custody were also taken into account by the judge.

“It is abundantly clear that he is doing everything to turn his life around,” said Judge Johnson, who made the decision to adjourn the case to October 6 for a probation report.

He added that, should he receive a positive probation report and satisfaction that Mr Bird is doing everything he can to “get clean”, he will consider the Probation of Offenders Act on that date.

“The court is doing everything it can to give him the best opportunity to turn his life around,” he concluded, adjourning the case to October.