Warehouse manager jailed for storing €300,000 worth of cannabis at work

By Natasha Reid

A warehouse manager with no previous convictions has been jailed for three years and nine months for storing €300,000 worth of drugs at the transport company where he worked.

Michael Perry, a 42-year-old father of two, told gardai he was “in no way a big drug dealer” after a Customs and Excise dog sniffed out the cannabis in his locker during a search.

Perry, with an address at Mornington Heights, Trim in Co. Meath, was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply on 1^st February 2022 at Kilshane Avenue in Dublin 15.

Garda Craig Shiels told the court that gardai were called to the Hales Freight warehouse when a Customs and Excise sniffer dog brought its handler to Perry’s locker. A search had been carried out after it was noticed that unofficial parcels were being delivered there from the UK, in the name of an ex-employee, who was not involved.

Perry provided the key to the locker, and two sealed boxes were found inside. One box contained five 1kg bags of cannabis herb, and the other box contained 10 bags. The accused made admissions at the scene.

The court heard that the defendant had worked at the company since 2016, starting as a forklift driver before being promoted to warehouse manager. His boss told gardai that Perry had had 24/7 access to the premises.

The defendant told gardai in interview that the activity had been going on since the start of the year. He didn’t give any names, but Gardai viewed CCTV footage, which showed that another person had also handled the packages. That person is still before the courts.

“I’m sorry I got mixed in with the wrong people, and I’m paying the price now,” said Perry. “I’m in no way a big drug dealer.”

Garda Shiels agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that Perry had been a well-respected employee, but had since moved onto a different company and currently works in Denmark.

He was aware that Perry had a drug addiction and that’s how he had got involved, with his new acquaintances finding it useful that he worked in haulage.

Mr McGinn told Judge Martin Nolan that there were exceptional circumstances in the case, which would allow the court to depart from the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, pointing especially to his early guilty plea.

“It was to his detriment that it was his position of responsibility that led to the offending,” he said. “A person in the throes of drug addiction, in that position and a hard-working man with no previous convictions, it’s understandable why he was targeted.”

Counsel noted that his client had flown back to Ireland to face up to his responsibilities.

He also said that those most adversely affected by this conviction would be Perry’s children, describing them as the innocent victims of his offending.

Mr McGinn then passed the court what he described as an impressive array of testimonials from people Perry had come across in a professional capacity.

Judge Nolan said that he assumed the defendant had owed money and might have been coerced, describing those for whom he was storing the drugs as “insidious third parties.”

“In his hour of desperation, he made a very bad decision, a very bad judgment call and is now going to have to answer for that,” he said.

He imposed a sentence of three years and nine months.