Cannabis growing operation in Cork man's bedroom was for back pain, court hears

A man who set up a sophisticated cannabis growing operation in his bedroom worth almost €10,000 after sourcing the seeds online and ordering the equipment from Amazon was trying to treat his back pain, a Court has heard.

Cannabis growing operation in Cork man's bedroom was for back pain, court hears

A man who set up a sophisticated cannabis growing operation in his bedroom worth almost €10,000 after sourcing the seeds online and ordering the equipment from Amazon was trying to treat his back pain, a Court has heard.

Peter Tobin of 24 Newbridge Park in Skibbereen in West Cork pleaded guilty at Skibbereen District Court to charges of simple possession of cannabis, cultivation of plants and to possession of a controlled drug for the purposes of selling or otherwise supplying it.

Judge James McNulty heard that Mr Tobin only began researching the cultivation of cannabis and purchasing the required equipment from Amazon after his home had been searched by Gardaí some months earlier because of suspicions of drug-related activity by someone else known to him.

Det Garda Shannon Ryan told the court that on December 13, 2017 at 10.20am he and members of the Divisional Drugs Unit searched Mr Tobin’s home under a warrant - again related to a different person and not Mr Tobin.

He was in the UK at the time but his now ex-partner granted access to the Gardaí for the purposes of the search.

They found Mr Tobin’s bedroom was locked and forced entry.

Inside they found what Det Garda Ryan called “a small, sophisticated grow tent” with 12 plants inside and in the early stages of growth.

Some 96g of cannabis here was also found in the room and in the kitchen in a jar another 24g if cannabis was found.

The plants at maturity would have had a street value of €9,600 and the court heard the total value of drug seized was €12,000.

On his return from the UK Mr Tobin met Gardaí by arrangement and was later charged.

The court heard his wife had been “shocked” at the discovery.

Mr Tobin’s solicitor, Liam O’Donovan, said his client became the “accidental owner” of the plants in that he had been taken by surprise at the rate of growth.

Judge McNulty said it was “a tad unlikely” that Mr Tobin would have been unaware of the previous allegations relating to a different person which triggered the earlier search warrant and that he was “sceptical” when it came to the defendant’s explanation.

“He insists it was for his own use,” Mr O’Donovan said.

He said Mr Tobin suffered from chronic back pain and was on a waiting list for HSE pain management injections.

Following the summer Garda search in 2017, that August he began what his solicitor said was “a considerable amount of research on the internet”, buying the cannabis seeds and the required lamps and tent online and having them all delivered to his door.

“He initially started making biscuits with the plants and said that was giving him a lot of relief,” Mr O’Donovan said.

Mr Tobin has no previous convictions in Ireland, where has lived for the past 20 years, but had two convictions in the UK including one for armed robbery in 2008 for which he received a 21-month jail sentence.

His solicitor later explained that it was his brother-in-law’s property and there had been a long-running dispute between them.

Judge McNulty convicted him on all three charges and deferred penalty until June 11 next, as well as requesting a probation report on Mr Tobin.

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