A LOUTH man has been found guilty at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court of possessing cannabis resin with intent to supply.
Vincent Donegan claimed that he found the drugs in a shed on land behind the Monasterboice Inn in May 1995 and moved them because he wanted them off his land.
Donegan, of Bawntaaffe, Monasterboice, also denied possession of the drugs on May 28th, 1995. The jury's majority verdict of guilty on both charges came after 2 1/2 hours.
During the trial, the court was told that early on May 28th, 1995, staff at Monasterboice Inn had seen two men, one of whom was the defendant, take a plastic bag out of the boot of a car parked in the rear car park. They walked over an embankment and placed the bag, which contained the drugs, at the base of a tree.
Mr Michael O'Higgins, for the defendant, said one of those men was Vincent Donegan. Staff at the inn had alerted gardai about the presence of two men in the car park and the car was stopped a short time later by gardai in Drogheda. In the meantime, two barmen had followed the tracks of the men and located the drugs.
Two days later, Donegan went voluntarily to Drogheda Garda station, where he was arrested and detained. Mr O'Higgins said his client explained to gardai that he found the drugs in a large shed at the back of the Monasterboice Inn a few days previously and told gardai he had panicked. He simply wanted them off his land. He did that but in a manner that was amateurish and half cocked, he said.
The court was told that 50 of the 154 bars recovered had been analysed and found to contain cannabis resin sufficient to make more than 100,000 hand rolled cigarettes. At the time of the incident, the total seizure was reported to have a street value estimated at £300,000.
Judge Patrick Smith remanded Donegan in custody until next Friday and ordered a probation report. He will pass sentence then or the following week.