Law « Thurles Information

Tipperary Gardaí Seize Amphetamines & Cash.

Yesterday morning at approximately 11.30am members of the Detective Branch; Unit D at Carrick-on-Suir; Clonmel District Drugs Unit and Regional Dog Unit from Henry Street, carried out a search, under warrant, at an address in the Ninemilehouse area of Co. Tipperary.

**Photo courtesy An Garda Síochána, Co. Tipperary.**

Amphetamines with an estimated street value of €8,000 (pending analysis) were seized, together with €1,900 in cash, mobile phones, a small quantity of tablets and a digital scales.

Amphetamine are a stimulant. They can be in a powder or tablet form, which you can sniff, swallow or inject. Speed is an off-white or pinkish powder and can sometimes look like crystals. Usage can cause heart failure, mental health problems such as psychosis, paranoia, delusions, anxiety, depression, irritability, aggression and hallucinations.

A male in his 30’s was arrested at the scene under the Provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at Clonmel Garda Station. Following questioning he was since been released and a file is currently being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Quirke Appeal Against Murder Conviction To Be Decided Next Week.

Mr Patrick Quirke from Breanshamore, in Co. Tipperary will learn, possibly on Tuesday next, whether his appeal regarding his conviction for murder has been successful.

The 52-year-old Mr Quirke has spent the past two years in Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, County Laois, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of lorry driver and part-time Disc Jockey, Mr Bobby Ryan, in or about June 3rd 2011, at an unknown location. His guilt had been decided by a 10 – 2 jury verdict, following a 15-week trial.

It has been more than one year since Mr Quirke’s appeal against the court’s decision regarding the infamous love-rival killing in Co. Tipperary was first lodged. The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with some 52 submissions of appeal by Mr Quirke, led to the unprecedented delay in the appeal case. However, it is understood that both defence and prosecution counsel were informed, on Wednesday last, that a judgment would be delivered early next week. If successful in his appeal, Mr Quirke’s conviction for the murder of Mr Ryan, will now be overturned.

The trial of Mr Quirke, in 2019 was the longest in the history of the Irish State, with the victim missing for some 22 months, before his body was eventually found in a disused run-off tank on Ms Mary Lowry’s land at Fawnagown, Co Tipperary, in April 2013.

Issues during the trial were raised about how Gardaí had handled the discovery of Mr Ryan’s body, with the court hearing details of how part of a concrete capping slab fell into the tank, possibly causing damage to the body of deceased in the process.

18 Dogs & 3 Cats, Seized During Planned Tipperary Garda Operation.

On October 21st last we here at Thurles.Info highlighted the poor enforcement of existing laws by the Department of Agriculture and Local Authorities in relation to Ireland’s multi-million-euro puppy trade, which was exposed on BBC’s “Spotlight” programme on tuesday last,

Clonmel Gardaí and Members of the Detective unit stationed at Clonmel Garda Station; together with ISPCA Inspectors yesterday seized 18 dogs and 3 cats, during a planned operation within the district.

***Pictures Courtesy Tipperary Gardaí***.

This planned operation was aimed at targeting serious breaches of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, 2013 and all these animals have now been taken into the proper care of the ISPCA.

Breeds seized include Chihuahuas, Pugs, Bichon Frise and Terriers some of which appear to be in pup.

The seizure was made shortly after 11:00am yesterday and one male was arrested by Gardaí at the scene for obstructing the Gardaí in their planned search.

Criminal Assets Bureau Search Tipperary Motor Dealership.

As part of an on-going money laundering and proceeds of crime investigation, the Criminal Assets Bureau conducted a search of one motor dealership here in Co. Tipperary this morning, Thursday 21st October 2021.

This operation carried out this morning was linked to a recent CAB search operation conducted at a motor dealership in Dublin 15, on September 6th last, during which seven high value vehicles were seized and the subsequent seizure of a Jaguar I Pace (All Electric vehicle), valued at some €80,000, on September 28th 2021.

Today’s Co. Tipperary exploration by CAB involved the search of a motor dealership by 24 Criminal Assets Bureau officers.

Eleven vehicles in total were seized and removed from today’s search site, four of which were detained for customs/VRT offences.

The seized vehicles included: – 5 x Audi Q7; 2 x Range Rover; 2 x BMW X5; 1 x Audi A4 and 1 x VW Passat.
In addition to these high value vehicles take possession of; €11,000 in cash was also seized.

This morning’s operation was conducted as part of an on-going money laundering and proceeds of crime investigation targeting assets linked to a significant East European Organised Crime Group (OCG), same operating within the jurisdiction of this State.

FSAI Issue Warning Regarding Sweets Containing Cannabis.

Growing availability in Ireland of food products, in particular jelly sweets containing significant amounts of illicit narcotic drug THC.

Yesterday, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) urged the public, especially parents and guardians, to be extremely vigilant to the dangers of inadvertent consumption, particularly by children, of cannabis edibles; same products such as jelly sweets containing the psychoactive cannabis component known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

There is growing availability in Ireland of food products, in particular jelly sweets that contain significant amounts of the illicit narcotic drug THC. The FSAI issues this warning in advance of the Halloween festivities next week where small children, teenagers and adults will be celebrating and where there is an increased risk of people, particularly children, unwittingly consuming these types of products that are intentionally packaged to resemble popular brands of jellies in order to avoid detection.

Cannabis edibles are illegal food products containing THC and come in many forms, but primarily jelly sweets. THC is a controlled substance in Ireland with a zero tolerance under the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977. Furthermore, in food, THC is considered a contaminant, with no permitted threshold in EU or Irish food law.

The FSAI states that the high concentrations (up to 50mg/jelly) of THC in these illicit edible sweets can pose serious health risks, particularly to teenagers and children of all ages whose neurological, physical and physiological development could be impacted negatively.

Depending on the THC concentration, eating one of these jellies can mean ingesting a level of THC that is 5-10 times higher than that inhaled when smoking cannabis.

The real concern is that children are not aware of the dangers and if they manage to gain access to a bag of these jellies, they will rarely eat just one and therefore, overdosing is a very likely outcome. Unlike the almost immediate effects from smoking cannabis, there is at least a thirty-minute time delay from consumption of cannabis edibles, until the initial effects are felt. This poses a serious risk to those who have eaten these jellies who might mistakenly believe that they need to consume several jellies to feel an effect and then find they have overdosed when it is too late. Cannabis toxicity can cause cognitive and motor impairment and in the case of children this can be extreme, lasting up to 24 to 36 hours after consumption.

This call by the FSAI follows reports of the first cases of paediatric cannabis poisoning in Ireland with six children, all under the age of ten, hospitalised after accidentally consuming these illegal jelly sweets. In addition, there have also been reports of teenagers falling seriously ill, and in some cases requiring hospitalisation after having seizures and becoming unconscious from overdosing on these cannabis edibles.

Dr Pamela Byrne, (Chief Executive, FSAI) says the accidental consumption of edible cannabis products by children is extremely worrying.