Father of nine (62) given jail sentence for possession of cannabis





A 62-year-old father of nine was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment after gardaí found €3,000 worth of cannabis at his Kiltimagh home.

Kenneth Manley of 7 Fortland Close, Kiltimagh, appeared before last week’s sitting of Castlebar District Court charged with possession of cannabis.

Garda Keith Deane explained that acting on confidential information, gardaí searched Mr Manley’s home on December 21, 2013, and discovered cannabis in a container. The total quantity of cannabis discovered was 150.05 grams, which has a street value of €3,010.

When interviewed by gardaí, Mr Manley explained he had a cannabis habit for the past 35 years and that he bought the cannabis in bulk for €2,000 to feed his habit. He also admitted he sold some of it to a circle of seven or eight friends. Garda Deane told the court he did not consider Mr Manley a ‘player’ in the drug scene.

Garda Deane explained that Mr Manley had no previous convictions. He added that while Mr Manley was very co-operative, he did not reveal where he got the drugs from.

Lived alone

Mr Evan O’Dwyer, solicitor for the defendant, said his client was a separated father of nine children and that he had lived in Ireland for over 20 years. He said Mr Manley now lived alone and that the cannabis was not for a commercial operation.

Mr Manley explained he was born in Ireland but had gone to live in England in 1970, and that he left school when he was eleven to work in the building trade. He said he worked in England and Ireland and that he had brought up his four youngest children by himself.

Judge Mary Devins said €3,000 was ‘at the high end’, and that he would go to prison if he would not tell gardaí where the drugs came from.

Mr Manley was asked to reconsider his stance, but Garda Deane later revealed that following a conversation on the matter, it had not been cleared up satisfactorily.

Mr O’Dwyer said in mitigation that his client had provided certain information when he could have said nothing to gardaí, and that he had also pleaded guilty at an early opportunity.

Judge Devins sentenced Mr Manley to six months’ imprisonment and fined him a total of €600. Recognisance was fixed in an event of an appeal on the severity of the sentence.