‘Walter Mitty’ character who flew in €8.4m of cocaine into midlands airport is jailed for 11 years

Fifty-six-year-old Tim Gilchrist Jr of Mavis Bank, Newrath, Waterford, was handed down an eleven and a half year with the final six months suspended at a sitting of Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court today (Thursday) by Judge Keenan Johnson.

The Waterford native had pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine for sale or supply at Lough Owel, Irishtown, Co. Westmeath and of importing an estimated €8.4m of the controlled drug at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, Abbeyshrule, Co Longford.

Detective Garda Ciaran Cummins of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) told the court of how a wide-ranging surveillance operation was put in place after “confidential information” had come to light over the use of a Cessna light aircraft which had flown out from the Longford based airstrip the previous day.

The court heard Gilchrist Jnr had boarded the Cessna light aircraft and flown to France before returning to Abbeyshrule from Dieppe airport.

He said, on the day of the incident shortly before 5:30pm, gardaí observed Gilchrist Jnr remove a number of bags from the aircraft before placing them in a dark coloured vehicle.

Around half an hour later, gardaí stopped two vehicles, one being a black Alfa Romeo car driven by the accused and where five holdalls and a single suitcase were retrieved containing 120kilos of cocaine worth an estimated €8.4m.

The court was told Gilchrist Jnr, in a series of interviews at Ashbourne garda station, “held his hands up” to being in possession of the drugs but stated he had been under duress from a number of unknown individuals not before the court.

Det Garda Cummins said the former highway maintenance employee told gardaí of how two men arrived at his home and told him he would be “flying in a plane” and to purchase a mobile phone.

Gilchrist Jnr said when he refused, the pair said they would “do your daughter”. Det Garda Cummins said this was a narrative investigating gardaí were not prepared to accept.

Judge Keenan Johnson was told two phones were also seized from Gilchrist Jnr during his detention and a number of text messages which the accused had both sent and received from two men named in court as ‘Sean’ and ‘Niall’.

The court heard how two messages sent from ‘Sean’ to Gilchrist Jnr’s phone in the minutes before the aircraft landed appeared to indicate the plane was being watched.

At 5:24pm ‘Sean’ texted Gilchrist Jnr, saying there were “a lot of guys around” and to “be careful” in a warning that prompted the accused to reply: “Okay.”

A minute later a second message sent to Gilchrist Jnr’s phone advised there “might be better other spots” just as the aircraft came into land.

Det Garda Cummins described the seizure to be on the “very higher end” of the scale of high profile drugs detections carried out by gardaí.

The court heard Gilchrist Jnr previously enjoyed business interests in Uganda in the meat processing industry and where his wife operates a restaurant.

Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC, said his client, despite having previously been employed in the highway maintenance sector, was someone who had not enjoyed an excessive lifestyle and whose only income was just over €200 a week in illness benefit.

He said Gilchrist Jnr also suffered from oesophageal achalasia which left him with almost permanent heartburn.

Mr O’Higgins described his client as being the “weakest link in the chain” and the “most expendable” and was far removed from the source of the seven figure drugs consignment who, he contended enjoy “several layers of insulation” between the end product and the person who is found in possession of them.

“There is a significant Walter Mitty element to him and he does not appear to be a person who has significant assets,” he said.

He added the incident appeared to show how small airports are being used as an “open corridor” to bring in large caches of drugs, an assertion Judge Johnson said the court found “concerning”.

Mr O’Higgins said the Waterford man who has been on remand in custody for almost two years, was facing a “very significant” custodial sentence at a time of life when he should otherwise be looking forward to retirement.

In delivering sentence, Judge Johnson expressed his concern at how private airfields appeared to be used as an “open corridor” by organised crime gangs in which to import “significant quantities” of controlled drugs.

He said there was a clear and unequivocal need for “significant upgrades” in both security and custom examination checks to be introduced at facilities similar to those in Abbeyshrule and Dieppe from where the seven figure drugs haul was transported between.

Judge Johnson said the accused had effectively been caught “red-handed” by gardaí when the 09-D registered Alfa Romeo car he was driving was intercepted by gardaí on the date in question.

He said there had been a considerable degree of planning in the orchestration of the drugs importation, saying Gilchrist Jnr played an active role in both its logistics and ultimate delivery for his own financial gain.

Judge Johnson described the episode as being at the “upper end of the mid range” of offences that, on indictment carry a maximum tariff of life in prison.

He said given the gravity of the incident the court was of a mind to put the headline sentence at 16 and-a-half-years.

Taking those factors into account and, in imposing the maximum 30pc reduction open to the court allied to Gilchrist Jnr’s early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions, that sentence could be reduced to one of eleven-and-a-half years.

Judge Johnson imposed that sentence on both the possession for sale or supply and drugs importation charges, terms he directed to run concurrently.

In backdating the sentence to when the accused first went into custody in August 2022, Judge Johnson suspended the final six months of that sentence for a period of two years in order to foster and encourage Gilchrist Jnr’s rehabilitation when he is eventually freed from prison.