Tipperary dairy farmer linked to organised crime jailed over €730,000 cannabis haul

A Tipperary farmer has been jailed for eight years, with another two years suspended, after €730,000 worth of cannabis was found in his articulated lorry.

Martin Murray (58), Crimlin Little, Moneygall, on the Tipperary/Offaly border had denied importing the drugs into Ireland and having them for sale or supply to others but was convicted when a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict at the end of a trial at Tullamore Circuit Court.

The sentencing hearing today (Tuesday, December 19) was told Mr Murray was charged after gardai had stopped him when he was driving a truck at Dunkerrin on June 30, 2017.

Replying to prosecution counsel Kevin White, Detective Garda Val Russell told Judge Keenan Johnson that gardai mounted a surveillance operation on “all major routes” in Ireland after receiving information that Mr Murray had come into Northern Ireland from Cairnryan and intended driving home to Moneygall.

His vehicle was seen at the M7 plaza at Portlaoise and it then left the motorway at exit 21 and was followed by a garda vehicle.

Detective Garda Russell said the lorry engaged in counter surveillance manoeuvres, giving the example of where it had exited from the motorway, gone across a bridge, and then drove again on the motorway in the original direction.

When it exited at Barack Obama Plaza it was followed by another garda detective and he pulled Mr Murray's vehicle over near his home.

Mr Murray co-operated with a search of the lorry, saying: “No problem, there's nothing on it”.

When nothing was visible the vehicle was seized and brought to Nenagh Garda Station where nothing was found in another search.

Gardai did find two Samsung mobile phones, one of which was encrypted, €1,570 worth of cash and paper receipts for fuel.

A warrant was obtained for a search of Mr Murray's property and land but nothing of evidential value was found and the truck was then brought to Dublin Port for another search.

Sniffer dogs and a scan uncovered nothing but a number of large steel tubes were found under other items.

Gardai searched the tubes by drilling holes and inserting a camera and found the drugs vacuum packed, along with €6,000, also vacuum packed in a tube.

Gardai also found Garmin sat nav devices and a tachograph and Detective Garda Russell said Claire Greaney from Forensic Science Ireland, a key witness in the trial, analysed the tachograph and found the truck had travelled from Moneygall to Rosslare, on to Fishguard, across the UK and eventually to Breda in the Netherlands where it appeared to remain from June 24 to June 28.

The court heard that Detective Garda Conor O'Sullivan extracted data from the sat nav and established that the truck had travelled to Hull, England from the Netherlands and gone up to Scotland to Cairnryan Port.

That detective also found that even though the sat nav was not activated between June 24 and June 28, it was still collecting data and recorded five movements of between 21 and 90 miles during those days in the Netherlands.

When Mr Murray was arrested on July 5, 2017 he said “It has nothing to do with me” and he wasn't prepared to give an account of his travels and that it was on the CMR (travel document).

Detective Garda Russell said no admissions were made by the accused and a file was sent to the DPP and he was charged on October 25, 2018.

The court was also told that his passport was found in the lorry two days into the trial, which took place in May this year.

Detective Garda Russell said Mr Murray had a previous conviction for the sale and supply of drugs dating from 1999 when he received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence at Naas Circuit Court for a an offence committed in October 1996.

He had also received a five-year suspended sentence for larceny in 1996 and his most recent offences were for road traffic matters in 2010 and 2009.

Asked about the accused's background, Detective Garda Russell said he knew he had a farm and a daughter of his had accompanied him to court at some stage.

Michael Gillespie, solicitor for Mr Murray, said the accused's sole defence had been knowledge and the State's case relied on the statutory presumption of knowledge on the part of his client.

Mr Gillespie said there was no evidence that Mr Murray was present when the substance was put into the steel tubes which were sealed and he had been instructed to tell the court that there would be an appeal.

The solicitor said Mr Murray had left school at 14 having completed one year of secondary because his father was ill and he had been principally a farmer since then.

He also got involved in haulage and he would go to the continent and on this occasion he picked up a load in Holland to bring to Ireland.

Mr Gillespie said the trial had heard evidence from James Quinn, a former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, that a haulier would only be entitled to carry out a visual inspection of his load.

Mr Gillespie presented testimonials on Mr Murray's behalf from a number of people, including a haulier, a mechanic, farmers and a vet.

They variously attested to the accused being a hard worker and very good with animals.

The court also received a letter from the GP of the accused's brother which related the worry and stress caused to him by Martin Murray's prosecution.

The defendant's brother, Seamus Murray, wrote a letter to the court saying that they had grown up with their sisters and when their parents were elderly Martin remained on the farm and they worked side by side on farms.

He referred to the accused as a good friend and brother who helped everyone locally and since Martin's conviction Seamus Murray had to run two farms.

A letter from Cloverhill Prison said Martin Murray was a very good worker in the laundry there who was courteous and polite to staff.

Before Judge Johnson announced his sentence, Mr Gillespie said the accused wished to address the court but was advised that it would not be of any assistance to do so.

Judge Johnson said the minimum sentence for an offence of this kind involving drugs valued at €13,000 or more was 10 years but he could depart from that in certain circumstances.

He noted the accused had pleaded not guilty and had a previous conviction for a similar offence.

He said the amount and kind of drug was an aggravating factor, saying that cannabis was anything but a “soft drug” and along with being a gateway to other drugs, 5% of cannabis users went on to develop schizophrenia.

Mitigating factors included the man's cooperation with the gardai, his recent unblemished record, and the impact on his brother which was a “significant penalty in itself”.

The offence carried a sentence of up to life but the headline sentence he imposed was 10 years, with the final two years suspended upon entry of a €500 peace bond for five years post-release.

The sentence was backdated to May 4 last when Mr Murray first went into custody.