Tipperary man who fled to Germany to avoid drugs charges is given suspended sentence

A man found with over €8,000 worth of cannabis had to be extradited from Germany, Nenagh Circuit Criminal Court was told

The drugs were seized when gardaí obtained a warrant to search the address of Cesius Grigas, 41, who had an address at The Gatehouse, Abbey Street, Roscrea.

Mr Grigas pleaded to sale or supply of drugs and possession of drugs on February 24, 2015, at Abbey Street, Roscrea.

Sgt Niall Tobin of Nenagh Garda station told the court that the gardaí stopped a vehicle that had initially sped away from a pursuing patrol car on the Templemore road outside Roscrea on February 24, 2015.

When the car eventually stopped at Camden, Roscrea, Mr Grigas was sitting in the front passenger seat. The gardaí got a strong smell of cannabis coming from the car and discovered a cannabis joint on the dashboard and a package containing cannabis concealed in the boot.

Mr Grigas was arrested and the gardaí obtained a warrant to search his address in Abbey Street where they discovered cannabis worth €8,028 in the kitchen.

He was remanded in custody in relation to the incidents but was released on bail four months later pending his trial.

There were no issues with the bail conditions until Mr Grigas failed to appear before Nenagh District Court in October 2015.

It was believed that Mr Grigas had gone to Germany and gardaí applied for a European arrest warrant.

Sgt Tobin said it was his understanding that the defendant had been arrested by German police on foot of that warrant in March 2021 and had spent nine months in custody in Munich before he was extradited to Ireland that November where he was further remanded in custody for three weeks before obtaining bail.

As well as the €8,028 worth of cannabis found at his address, the value of the drug in the package in the boot of the car was €184 and the value of the cannabis joint on the dashboard of the vehicle was €10.

Mr Grigas had been on bail since December last year and had not come to the attention of the gardaí in that time, said Sgt Tobin.

In reply to Bill O’Brien, BL, for Mr Grigas, Sgt Tobin agreed that there were no signs of the trappings of unexplained wealth that gardaí could see when they seized the drugs in the rented accommodation.

The defendant was working in a meat processing factory.

The court heard that Mr Grigas was using a lot of cannabis at the time and had a large debt to a person whom he did not identify.

Mr O’Brien said his client maintained that he never intended evading the criminal justice system in Ireland and only left for a new life in Germany after he broke up with his girlfriend.

Mr Grigas had built up a debt as a result of a heavy dependence on cannabis that he needed to pay off and was not profiting from the drugs venture that was uncovered.

Since being extradited from Germany he had settled back in this country and recommenced working here as soon as he obtained bail last December.

Mr O’Brien submitted that the offences were “a once-off blemish in what is a fairly normal law-abiding life”.

Judge Cormac Quinn said he was satisfied that Mr Grigas left the country to avoid the charges.

He noted his guilty plea and that he had co-operated with gardaí and had made admissions to them.

He was satisfied the defendant’s involvement in relation to the drugs was at a low level and that he acted out of fear as he had a drug debt.

Judge Quinn imposed a prison sentence of 18 months, suspended in the defendant’s own bond of €200 on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 18 months.