Carlow businessman fined for possession of cannabis
Stock image
A BUSINESSMAN was fined €1,500 at Carlow Circuit Court last week for possessing several hundred grams of cannabis. Koffi Tobin, 18 Fr Byrne Park, Graiguecullen pleaded guilty to an offence contrary to section 3 of the .
Gardaí raided his house on 2 June 2023 and found quantities of the drug in Mr Tobin’s bedroom and in a garden shed. along with over 160 dealer bags and 137 ‘stoner patch’ bags in which cannabis jellies were sold, along with a weighing scales. The drugs were valued at around €7,000 by Forensic Science Ireland.
Mr Tobin (33) took responsibility for the drugs but claimed he used the cannabis for medicinal purposes only. He contested a section 15 charge of selling and supplying drugs. At trial, he argued that he smoked cannabis heavily for pain relief related to a workplace accident, and to help with his anxiety and depression.
The defence called forensic scientist Keith Brown as an expert witness at trial, who placed a street value of €2,345 or just over €4,000 on the haul. The jury found Mr Tobin not guilty of this second charge in May of this year.
Tom Kelly BL, defending Mr Tobin at the sentencing hearing for the possession charge, noted that his client had a positive probation report and was at low risk of reoffending. He said Mr Tobin had a young child, a supportive partner and family who wrote character references. He had stopped using cannabis to self-medicate and was engaged with psychiatric services.
Mr Kelly furnished the court with a character witness statement from Mr Tobin’s company accountant.
Mr Kelly put forward that this was “evidence of a genuine effort to free himself” from drug use, and that his client acknowledged his “grave error” in using cannabis to treat his mental health difficulties, after his brother died from a drug overdose in 2018.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly set a headline fine of €2,000 for the offence and reduced it to €1,500 to be paid within one month. He noted that a possession offence like this “does not normally involve quantities running into hundreds of grams.”
