Sentencing of man in midlands cocaine case adjourned

A man charged in connection with the seizure of cocaine worth €8.4 million, which was flown into Co Longford on a private plane two years ago, has had his sentencing adjourned until Thursday at Mullingar Circuit Court.

Tim Gilchrist, 56, of Mavis Bank, Newrath, Waterford, is charged with possessing drugs worth €13,000 or more for sale or supply at Lough Owel, Co Westmeath.

At a previous hearing, he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply.

In court today, Gilchrist entered a further guilty plea to importation of a controlled drug, namely cocaine to the market value of €13,000 or more.

On 4 August 2022, shortly after 6pm, Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau officers, supported by other units, were monitoring a Cessna single-engine aircraft as it landed at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, Co Longford.

Later that evening, they intercepted two vehicles in the Lough Owel area of Co Westmeath and recovered 120kg of cocaine from one car.

Gardaí arrested Gilchrist, and a second man

At the sentencing hearing for Gilchrist, the court heard he had put forward a narrative to gardaí of how he got involved in the importation.

Detective Garda Ciaran Cummins, from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, said he alleged two men had called to his house and told him that he would be flying on a plane and that if he did not there would be consequences and threatened his daughter.

Det Gda Cummins said the evidence would not support the narrative put forward and the investigation does not accept this series of events.

The court heard the plane had flown to Abbeyshrule Aerodrome from Dieppe airport in France on 4 August where there are no customs checks.

It was also told the plane had flown from a larger airport in France to Dieppe the day before.

Judge Keenan Johnson expressed concern that there was an open corridor with no customs at either Abbeyshrule or Dieppe.

Det Gda Cummins replied that there were potentially spot checks carried out at Abbeyshrule.

He said a number of gardaí were involved in the investigation on 4 August, and at 5.25pm they observed a Cessna aircraft with two men on board.

After landing, he said, Gilchrist was seen removing a number of bags from the plane.

A short time later, gardaí stopped and searched a black Alfa Romeo vehicle driven by Gilchrist and found five holdalls and a suitcase containing 120 kilos of cocaine worth €8.4m.

A vehicle driven by another male was also stopped and searched.

The court heard that two phones were seized from Gilchrist, one personal and one that was purchased for the purpose of importation, with two names and numbers saved in the second phone that was used for communication the day the drugs were imported.

It also heard that receipts for stays at hotels and for fuel for the Cessna were found and the text messages were retrieved from the phone showing communication between two numbers for ‘Sean and Niall’ centred around the importation of drugs and surveillance at Abbeyshrule.

Det Gda Cummins said that Gilchrist accepts responsibility for the drugs, but the allegation he gave that he and the co-accused were just friends who enjoy flying and that the importation was done under duress is not supported by evidence.

The court that Gilchrist is financially secure, has a healthy bank balance and claims to have business interests in Uganda where his wife operates a restaurant, he is involved in the meat processing industry, that he is in receipt of around €208 in illness benefits weekly, and from 2017 to 2020 he was employed by Total Highway Maintenance.

Gilchrist a ‘Walter Mitty character’ – defence

Defence barrister Michael O’Higgins said he would take the view of his client as somewhat of a “Walter Mitty character” in the sense that some of his stories are somewhat “fanciful” in terms of his financial profile.

Gilchrist, he said, lives in a modest house, his former family home in Waterford, has a weekly income of €208 and has travelled extensively in Africa, but there is a difficult history in finding records of his involvement in the meat industry.

He said his client played an important logistical role, but added that the weakest and most expendable is the person who carries the drugs, rather than the owner of the drugs.

Mr O’Higgins said that even if gardaí know who the owners of the drugs are, they are not in a position to bring them to court.

Gilchrist’s immediate admission – “I hold my hands up” – in acknowledgement there were drugs in the car, is a significant plus for gardaí in putting the case together for court, he added.

Mr O’Higgins said that his client did allege some form of duress, it is not substantiated, and he is the weakest and most expendable link in the chain.

It is sad, he said, that a 56-year-old man is facing a custodial sentence at a time in his life when he should be looking forward to retiring.

In summary, Mr O’Higgins requested a minimum 25% reduction in the sentence for the guilty plea, if not more, for the speed at which he offered it.

He also asked that further credit be given for Gilchrist’s role and age, and the difficulties he would have in prison, and asked for the minimum sentence the court could give.

Judge Johnson said he needed to consider the “serious nature of the case” and that he would give his judgment at 10am on Thursday.