A Dublin man has been cleared of supplying cannabis by direction of Judge Dominic Lynch after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a peace commissioner did not realise he was signing a search warrant.
Judge Lynch criticised gardai for not making sufficient inquiries to ensure the warrant had been properly signed and said there were many shortcomings in the document which he could not ignore.
He said the peace commissioner admitted in evidence he did not understand the search warrant format and believed it would later be signed by a District Court judge.
The accused, Mr Adam Durley (56), of Bushy Park Road, Terenure, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply at an address in Tallaght on July 27th, 1995.