Bad parking led to man’s arrest for possession of cannabis herb
By Declan Brennan
A man whose bad parking led to his arrest for possession of €21,000 worth of cannabis has received a suspended sentence.
As a result of parking up on a footpath Damian Trojnar (33) was stopped by gardaí who then suspected he had given a false name and had a false tax disc on the car.
Garda Cathal McGeoghan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that after arresting Trojnar he discovered, through a search on Google, that the Polish authorities had a European Arrest Warrant out for Trojnar.
During the execution of this warrant at Trojnar’s then rented home in Ellensborough Meadows, Tallaght, Dublin gardaí discovered the bags of cannabis herb.
The total estimated street value of the drugs was €21,132. Trojnar was first extradited back to Poland where he served a four-year sentence for theft and burglary offences committed 12 years ago.
After his release he drove five hours across Poland to meet gardaí who were there to bring him back to Ireland on the drugs charges.
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Trojnar pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply at the Tallaght address on May 29, 2012. His other convictions in this State are mainly for road traffic offences.
Judge John Aylmer said that Trojnar was a reformed man and suspended a jail sentence of two years on condition that he be of good behaviour.
Garda McGeoghan said that the badly parked car had forced a woman with a buggy to move out onto the road and he decided to wait for the owner to “highlight his poor parking”. He said Trojnar gave him a false name and things just “snowballed” from there.
Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said his client was a changed man who wanted to make a life for himself here. He said that Trojnar’s voluntary return to Poland and then back to Ireland was a testament to his decision to make up for past mistakes.
Counsel said that the Polish authorities had described Trojnar’s behaviour while in prison as exemplary. At the time of this offence he had been living here for six years, paying rent and working in construction earning about €300 a week.
During the search gardaí also seized €2,200 in cash, a suspected drugs “tick-list” and a weighing scales. Trojnar told gardaí that he was smoking about 25g of cannabis a day.
