Appeal against drugs conviction dismissed
The Court of Criminal Appeal today upheld the conviction of a Navan man for a drugs offence.
Adrian Boyle (aged 32) of Oaklawns, Navan, Co Meath was jailed for eight years on January 30, 2008, after he was convicted before Trim Circuit Court of the possession of drugs for sale and supply.
Cocaine, worth nearly €170,000, was recovered when members of the Garda National Drugs Unit raided a shed in Mooneystown, Athboy on the evening of August 5, 2006.
Boyle appealed his conviction on a number a grounds, including that the trial judge had erred in law by receiving a verdict from a jury in respect of the charge. Mr Jonathan Kilfeather SC, for Boyle, argued that his client should have been acquitted.
It was also argued there was not enough evidence to prove the Navan man had been in possession of the drugs. Boyle told his trial that he was given use of the premises to work as a panel beater, and that he was there nearly every day.
When gardaí raided the building, they saw three men. Two of them were wearing rubber gloves and had “a few pellets of cannabis resin” on their persons. Boyle was not wearing rubber gloves and no drugs were found on him.
The DPP opposed the application.
Dismissing the appeal against conviction today the CCA, Mrs. Justice Susan Denham presiding, with Mr. Justice Daniel Herbert and Mr. Frank Justice Clarke held the trial judge had not erred in law.
The Court of Criminal Appeal found there were a number of factors, including that Boyle attempted to flee the shed when it was raided, which taken together entitled the trial judge to let the case go to the jury.
