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Jack Myers (30) from Devon in England has been remanded in custody since he was caught in Dublin Airport on September 5, 2024
Jack Myers (30) from Devon in England has been remanded in custody since he was caught in Dublin Airport on September 5, 2024. The drugs had an estimated street value of €398,000. He has no previous convictions.
He came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court having pleaded guilty to having the drugs for sale or supply.
Judge Martin Nolan said Myers was noticed at the airport as “he was behaving in a guilty fashion”.
He acknowledged that he had been induced by an acquaintance to go to Thailand to get the drugs and it had been his intention to bring them back to the UK. He was due to travel by ferry to England after he left Dublin Airport.
Judge Nolan acknowledged that Myers had “certain vulnerabilities” and had “probably been taken advantage of” but said he should have known that he was transporting drugs.
He said a headline sentence of six or seven years was warranted before he imposed a sentence of three and half years which was backdated to when Myers first went into custody.
Garda Marie Ruddy told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, that Myers was stopped by custom officials after arriving into Dublin Airport and his luggage was examined after an anomaly showed up on X-ray. There were 40 packages of cannabis in the suitcase.
Myers told gardaí that he had a condition which meant he made decisions “impulsively without thinking it through”.
He said he had been approached by an acquaintance who told him “you are going – it is all organised” and he was given money for his flights to Thailand and then onto Dublin.
He told gardaí in interview “I hold my hands up. It was a stupid thing to do. I have been used”.
Gda Ruddy said Myers looked “particularly nervous” going through the airport.
It was accepted in cross-examination by Michael Hourigan SC, defending, that Myers is “quite gullible, vulnerable and easily led”.
Mr Hourigan submitted that Myers was “targeted” adding “he would do their bidding at ease” referring to the people who got him involved in the offence.
He asked the court to acknowledge the “significant mitigation” in the case including Myers’ early guilty plea, lack of previous convictions and sincere admissions in garda interview.
“He was out of his depth and manipulated by other people. He was seen nervous and jittering in the airport,” Mr Hourigan said.
“}]] A man who was “behaving in a guilty fashion” while carrying almost 20 kilogrammes of cannabis through Dublin Airport has been jailed for three and half yea… Read More
