Retrial for former CIE driver jailed for drug trafficking
A former CIE bus driver jailed for drug trafficking is due to stand trial again after the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his original conviction.
Sunny Idah, with an address at Lipton Court in Temple Bar, in Dublin was arrested following a sting operation in September 2010.
Sunny Idah was secretly recorded trying to recruit two undercover Gardaí to smuggle cocaine from Brazil into Ireland.
The Gardaí posed as Polish drug mules and wore wires during three meetings with the father of three.
In 2012, the former CIE bus driver was jailed for 13 years but his legal team launched an appeal last November.
They argued his right to privacy was breached during the Garda sting operation and raised concerns about the evidence used in his trial.
Today, the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that the recording of a meeting on September 19, 2010 did not meet the level of authorisation required.
The transcripts of that recording should therefore not have been used as evidence against him and the conviction has now been quashed.
Sunny Idah has been remanded in custody back to DCCC for a retrial.
