Two Cork city brothers were jailed by the Special Criminal Court yesterday for possession of cannabis with a street value of £2,500.
Gerard Stanton (29), of Foyle Avenue, Knocknaheeney, was jailed for four years and his brother, Kieran Stanton (20) of Kilkiernan Close, Knocknaheeney, for three years after they were convicted of drugs charges.
They were found guilty of possession of cannabis resin and having the drugs for sale or supply at Hollyhill, Cork, on October 21st, 1995.
The court cleared the brothers of charges of having the drugs on two occasions on October 18th and 19th, 1995, after finding there was not sufficient evidence to convict them. The court was told during the six-day trial that after a 12-day surveillance operation gardai recovered a total of 254 grammes of cannabis with a street value of £2,500.
Gardai had mounted surveillance on a soccer pitch and houses in the Knocknaheeney area as part of an anti-drugs operation which targeted members of the Stanton family.
Mr Justice Morris said the court was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that gardai had observed Kieran Stanton carrying out transactions with a number of youths at the soccer pitch and placing an object under a sod of grass there.
Last week the father of the two men, Mr James Stanton (53), of Kilkiernan Close, Knocknaheney, was cleared of drugs charges after the court ruled that search warrants used by gardai to search his house were invalid.