Suspended sentence for grandfather caught with cannabis in home

By Isabel Hayes

A grandfather who was caught with about €22,000 worth of cannabis and cannabis plants in his home told gardaí he was using it for pain relief for himself and a neighbour with terminal cancer.

Kenneth Walsh (57) was caught growing eight cannabis plants in his home at Kilmashogue Glen, Kilmashogue Lane, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin after gardaí noticed a smell of cannabis coming from his car and noted down his registration plate.

When gardaí searched Walsh’s home in August 2024, they found the plants with a value of €6,400 along with €15,192 worth of cultivated cannabis herb. Some of the cannabis was named ‘lemon haze’ which the court heard was one of the “concoctions” Walsh was growing.

The investigating garda told Rebecca Smith BL, prosecuting, that   Walsh told gardaí he was using the cannabis herb for pain relief for both himself and a neighbour. The court heard Walsh had a serious accident and had to relearn how to walk again, while the neighbour had terminal cancer.

When asked by Judge Martin Nolan if he believed this explanation, the garda said the amount of cannabis seized was a large amount for two individuals, but also that there was no tick list in the home, no evidence of people coming to the house looking for drugs and Walsh was not on the garda radar.

Walsh’s home is in quite a rural area, the garda added.

Walsh pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possessing cannabis for sale or supply at his home on August 28, 2024. He has 21 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic offences dating back to 2013 and earlier.

Sarah-Jane O’Callaghan BL, defending, told the court Walsh had a good work history and ran his own business for 30 years before the accident. He was bed-bound for four months and started using cannabis to deal with the pain, she said.

She said attempts were made to get a letter from the neighbour to confirm the pain relief explanation, but this person is too ill now.

Sentencing Walsh on Friday, Judge Nolan noted it was “very high quality” cannabis herb.

The judge said that while the garda was sceptical as to Walsh’s explanation about the cannabis, he decided it “meets the threshold of believability”.

He handed down a sentence of two years which he suspended in full on a number of conditions.