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Two Englishmen caught unloading greater than €2.3 million price of hashish hid below a consignment of frozen hen will probably be sentenced later at Dublin Circuit Legal Courtroom.
Daniel Bowker (40) of Empire Street, Bolton, UK and Ibrar Sharif (47), additionally with an deal with in Bolton, have been arrested in Dublin three days earlier than Christmas final 12 months.
They instructed gardaí they’d been attempting to collect some cash to purchase presents for his or her households.
The boys got here ahead on signed pleas from the District Courtroom of possessing €2.364 million price of hashish on the market or provide at Kilmainham, Dublin 8 on December twenty second final.
They’ve been in custody in Cloverhill Jail since their arrest.
Det Patrick Hearne instructed Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, {that a} surveillance operation was put in place after gardaí acquired confidential details about an anticipated supply of pallets of unlawful medication.
At 9am on the day in query, gardaí noticed a white Ford Transit van pushed by Bowker arriving at a unit within the Chapelizod Industrial Property.
Each accused received out and about an hour later, they interacted with the driving force of a transport truck that arrived. Bowker was seen driving the van nearer to the shutters of the unit, earlier than the van left in convoy with one other automotive.
The van was pushed to a home within the Kilmainham space the place Sharif directed it right into a driveway and each males started to unload cardboard containers from the van into the home.
The van was pushed off after which stopped by gardaí, whereupon two males tried to flee earlier than they have been arrested.
Gardaí received a search warrant for the home in Kilmainham and seized 12 cardboard containers containing a complete of 119 kilos of vacuum-packed hashish.
Bowker admitted placing containers into the van and driving them to the Kilmainham deal with however initially instructed gardaí he didn’t know what was within the containers.
Throughout subsequent interviews he admitted there have been baggage of hashish beneath frozen hen and that he and Sharif had taken the medication out and put them into new containers.
Bowker has 5 earlier convictions from the UK, for minor offences together with felony injury.
Det Hearne agreed with counsel for the defence that Bowker and Sharif had been co-operative with gardaí and that each had long-standing alcohol issues.
The garda additionally agreed that the accused have been on the decrease finish of the ladder of the organised crime gang and had been utilized by these greater as much as courier medication.
It was additionally agreed that neither man displayed any indicators of wealth or a lavish life-style, nor did they stand to learn materially from the crime.
Oisín Clarke SC, defending Bowker, stated his consumer was affected by extreme anxiousness, melancholy and PTSD after he was assaulted in January 2022 by three males who broke into his home to attempt to steal a canine.
The courtroom heard Bowker suffered a facial fracture and needed to get two plates inserted into his jaw within the assault.
Bowker instructed gardaí he was a heavy drinker, on remedy for anxiousness and melancholy and had wished to make some “fast cash” to purchase Christmas presents for his three youngsters.
He wrote a letter of clarification and regret and stated he had been “very naive”.
Maurice Coffey SC, defending Sharif, stated his consumer had equally discovered himself weak, broke and with a ingesting drawback coming as much as final Christmas.
Mr Coffey stated Sharif started working on the age of 9 in markets and later labored in eating places, factories and Marks and Spencer’s till he was made redundant throughout Covid.
“He had no cash, he was unemployed, he foolishly agreed to get entangled and let his ethical compass shift,” stated counsel.
A letter from Sharif spoke of his regret, remorse and hopes for the long run.
Choose Orla Crowe adjourned the case for finalisation on October ninth and ordered an training report and a jail governor’s report back to be ready.
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