Man evicts tenants for setting up cannabis grow house then takes it over himself

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 16:43

A carpenter who evicted tenants from his property after he found out that they had set up a cannabis grow house only to then take over the operation himself has received a two year suspended sentence.

48-year-old John Sheahan pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to possessing cannabis for sale or supply and to cultivating cannabis without a licence at his home at Ardglass in Charleville on October 23, 2019.

The court heard that gardai had uncovered a sophisticated cannabis growhouse with lights and a watering system set up in a shipping container in the back yard of John Sheehan's house.

They discovered 23 mature cannabis plants with a street value of €18,400 in the container. They also found 253 grammes of cannabis herb with a street value of €5,066, giving a total value for the seizure of €23,466.

John Sheahan made full admissions when interviewed by gardai and today the court was told that he had paid €5,000 in compensation which will be donated to Tabor Lodge, a Cork based addiction counselling centre.

In sentencing Sheahan to two years in jail which he suspended in it's entirety the Judge said "He may have learned his lesson".