ONE OF the men charged in connection with a €440 million drugs seizure in west Cork was described yesterday as a good neighbour who would always try to assist people.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told that the day before the huge consignment of drugs was found off Mizen Head, one of the accused, Joseph Daly (41), watched the Cork versus Kerry Munster football final in the company of his aunt’s husband, Tom Lydon.
Afterwards he helped Mr Lydon move cattle from one field to another at his farm in west Cork, the court was told.
Mr Lydon said in evidence that he knew Joe Daly “since he was a baby” and if he needed any help with any job, Joe Daly “would be the first man to come around” to assist.
Mr Daly, Carrisbrooke Avenue, Bexley, Kent; Martin Wanden (45), no fixed abode; and Perry Wharrie (48), Pyrles Lane, Loughton, Essex, each face three charges relating to the discovery of the cocaine at Dunlough Bay on July 2nd, 2007.
All three have denied charges of possessing cocaine, possessing cocaine for sale or supply and possessing more than €13,000 worth of cocaine for sale or supply at Dunlough Bay, Mizen Head, Bantry, on July 2nd, 2007.
Mr Wanden’s sister, Gloria Hayhoe, told the court that her brother was in England on January 16th, 2007, when the prosecution alleges he had purchased a mobile phone at a shop in Bantry under the name Steven Witsey.
Mr Wanden’s other sister, Elaine Carpenter, said Martin Wanden was very close to their youngest sister, who had died days earlier, and that he was with the family attending to matters at the home of the deceased at the time.
The court had earlier heard evidence from Det Sgt Colm Noonan, who examined a mobile phone found in a waterproof box recovered from the sea at Dunlough Bay, where Coast Guard rescuers found a semi-submerged inflatable boat and 62 bales of cocaine.
The court had previously heard evidence that the Nokia phone had been purchased in Bantry on January 16th, 2007, and registered by Vodafone to a Steven Witsey, which the prosecution alleges is an alias used by Martin Wanden.
Sgt Noonan said he found seven numbers on the phone’s memory card, including one for somebody called “Big Al” and others for “Slim” and “Spider”.