Accused denies knowledge of drugs in car
A man on trial for conspiracy to possess drugs has claimed he dropped a car, in which a large amount of drugs was later found, off at a west Dublin car park as a favour for “Mr Martin Hyland”.
Mr John Mangan told the jury: “All I know is I drove the car over, I don’t know about anything else.”
Cannabis resin valued at more than €2m was found by gardaí in 14 boxes split between a Ford Transit van and an Opel Astra car in Browns Barn Public house car park.
William Hynes (aged 43) of Park Close, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath and Mr Mangan (aged 41) of Whitestown Green, Blanchardstown, have both pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring with others to possess cannabis resin and conspiring with others to possess the drug for sale or supply on July 31, 2006.
Mr Mangan told his defence counsel, Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC (Mr William Galvin BL), that he had been looking to buy a car for his teenage son and had been interested in purchasing an Opel Astra from a “Mr Martin Hyland.”
He said he got a phone call from Mr Hyland who told him that there was finance outstanding on the car and the sale would not be able to go through. He said Mr Hyland asked him as a favour if he would pick up the car and drop it off at Browns Barn for him so the owners from Cork could pick it up.
Mr Mangan said Mr Hynes picked him up in his Citroen the next morning after some initial confusion about the location of the car they collected the keys from a car wash and he picked up the Opel Astra at the Hole in the Wall pub.
Mr Mangan told Mr O'Carroll that “the M50 was like a car park” so they took an alternative route suggested by Mr Hynes through Lucan and Newcastle to Browns Barn. He said they stopped at Texaco in Clonee where he pulled in at the side of the road while Mr Hynes got petrol.
He said he did not know the way to Browns Barn and there was some phone contact between him and Mr Hynes on the journey.
He said when they came to Browns Barn Mr Hynes drove straight on and he assumed that Mr Hynes had missed the turn off. He said he drove into the car park himself and parked the car.
Mr Mangan said he had earlier received a short phone call from a man he now knew to be the third person later arrested at the scene and this person, who was unknown to him, asked him to have the Opel Astra at the car park for one o’clock.
Mr Mangan said he walked up to a roundabout where he handed over the keys to the Opel Astra to the people from Cork. He got back into the Citroen with Mr Hynes.
He said they decided to get something to eat in Browns Barn but as they drove back down the slip road towards the pub they saw the car park was very full and changed their minds.
He said they did a u-turn and drove back up the slip road and were stopped at the roundabout when a blue Honda Civic drove out in front of them.
He said two grey-haired men jumped out and himself and Mr Hynes were dragged from the car, handcuffed on the ground, stood on and then place in a patrol car. He said he did not see any uniformed gardaí in the car park.
Mr Mangan agreed with Mr Eanna Mulloy SC (with Mr Paul Carroll BL), prosecuting, that he and the people from Cork were strangers to each other but said he noticed a Cork registered Peugeot stopped in traffic and approached it to ask if they were there to collect the Opel Astra. He said he then handed over the keys.
He agreed that the keys to his own car, a Peugeot, were found on the drivers seat of the Opel Astra. He said they must have fallen out of his pocket and he did not notice them missing until gardaí told them they had been found.
Mr Mangan told Mr Mulloy that “to his knowledge” he locked the Opel Astra using the “on/off button” on the keys before he left it in the car park.
He denied that he was telling a “cock and bull story” to mask his involvement in the alleged offence.
