Man bought over €11,000 worth of drugs on Instagram

By Declan Brennan

A former fruit and veg firm worker caught with over €11,000 euro worth of cannabis herb told gardaí he bought the drugs off Instagram, a court has heard.

Jonathan Glynn (31) was arrested after gardaí called to his home in Rathgar, south Dublin on an unrelated matter and detected a strong smell of cannabis.

Garda Gary McCormack told Tessa White BL, prosecuting, that as a result he sought a warrant to search the house and found a little over €11,300 worth of cannabis herb.

He arrested Glynn and during garda questioning Glynn admitted fully that the drugs were his and that he intended to sell them.

Glynn of Sycamore Court, Rathgar pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of drugs for sale or supply at his home on December 30, 2020.

Gda McCormack said Glynn said he had bought the drugs in bulk from an Instagram account, telling gardaí “it’s all over Instagram and Facebook”.

Judge Pauline Codd asked if the social media companies were doing anything about this and Gda McCormack said the accounts would be suspended but new ones would appear to replace those.

Kevin McCrave BL, defending, said his client had previously worked for a fruit and veg distribution company but was laid off and that he used the money from this to buy the drugs.

When gardaí seized the drugs most of what he had bought was still there and he had only sold some to a relative.

He said his client was not a hardened criminal and had found new employment working in the vegetable section of a grocery shop.

Judge Codd said that Glynn’s decision to use the money to buy drugs was reprehensible when he could have spent in on his young family.

She said he needed to be aware that he was involving himself in a murky world of drugs which resulted in violence.

Noting his lack of previous convictions and his plea of guilty she suspended a prison term of three years on condition he engage with the Probation Service for one year.