Head shop owner had “honest belief” she wasn’t breaking the law

By Declan Brennan

The owner of a Dublin city head shop selling cannabis herb had an “honest belief” she wasn’t breaking the law, a court has heard.

On the afternoon of June 2, 2022, gardai carried out a search of the Funky Skunk shop on Amiens Street, Dublin 1.

During the search they found several small bags of cannabis herb behind the glass counter in the shop area and behind the counter.

They also found a larger bag in the back room with just under 760g of cannabis herb.

The total weight of all the drugs found was a little over 800g which has an estimated street value of €16,000, Garda Darren O’Driscoll told George Burns BL, prosecuting.

During the sentence hearing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Gda O’Driscoll said that a grinder and bags for bagging were also seized as part of the search.

Charlene Flynn (37) was present during the search and told gardai she was the owner of the shop, which was part of a franchise that also operated a shop in Cork city.

She was arrested in September 2022 and interviewed.

She told gardai cannabinoid oil and CBD products which she said were regulated under EU food law were seized by gardai on the day of the search.

She said that the products had a level of THC, the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis, of under 0.2 per cent and said that “to my knowledge the products are within the legal requirements”.

Flynn of Hollytree Square, Ballymun later pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of drugs for sale or supply at Funky Skunk on June 2, 2022.

She has one other criminal conviction.

The conviction for a 2019 offence of possession of drugs for sale or supply involved cannabis jellies which she had in her bag, Gda O’Driscoll told Eoghan Weldon BL, defending.

The garda witness agreed with Mr Weldon that Flynn was no trouble to gardai on the day and co-operated with the investigation.

Counsel put it to the witness that “you believe that she believed that what she was doing was legal” and the garda told the court: “yes I believe she had mistaken information”.

Mr Weldon told the court that the issue of whether a certain low level of THC in products was legal was the subject of separate High Court proceedings and has since been ruled on.

“She had a serious mistaken belief that what she was doing was legal,” counsel told the court. He said his client, a mother of two who is a carer for her partner, was extremely remorseful.

Judge Orla Crowe said ignorance of the law is no defence but that she had “an honest belief” at the time.

She imposed a prison term of 18 months which she suspended on strict conditions for a period of three years.

Earlier in the hearing, Gda O’Driscoll told the court that the business had been the subject of garda searches on five previous occasions, all before Flynn took over ownership.

The previous owner of the franchise was prosecuted two dozen times, most of these related to the Cork outlet.

Mr Weldon told the court that his client had started working in the shop in 2018 and was made owner 18 months later.

“She went from employee to owner overnight,” counsel said.

She said she did not have the freedom to choose the suppliers of products and “wasn’t calling the shots”.

In sentencing, Judge Crowe said she was taking these facts, and Flynn’s personal circumstances, into consideration.