Violent drug dealer gets less prison time than caregiving cannabis grower

Here is another case from Irish courts showing how broken the justice system is in this country. In this case a violent thug, with many violent criminal convictions, brutally assaults a man and woman in their home & gets less time than a non violent man, Patrick Moore, who’s crime was to grow cannabis and provide for patients left down by Irelands broken Medical Cannabis Access Program (MCAP).

The court was told that these thugs went to collect a stash of Cannabis from a house where it was being stored & found that the cannabis said to be worth €7000 had gone missing. The occupants of the house where the cannabis was stashed were then violently attacked by 3 men over the course of 2 days.

The 3 men were named in the court as Josh Conlon (19) with an address at Meath Place, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Paul Clark (29) with an address at Clonard Road, Crumlin, Dublin, and Craig Kelly (38) with an address at Dowland Road, Walkinstown, Dublin.

Clarke, described in court as the “main man”, was accompanied by Conlon on the first day of the assault and by Craig Kelly (38) on the second day, the court heard.

On the first day of the attack Clarke phoned Mr Black, looking for a box of cannabis that Mr Black was supposed to be holding for him.

He then called to the couple's apartment accompanied by Conlon looking for the drugs and became angry when he learned Mr Black did not have them. The men ordered Mr Black to come up with a sum of €7,000 to pay for the missing drugs, and Mr Black left the apartment to try and get money from the Credit Union.

The court heard Clarke then told Conlon to boil a kettle of water and to add sugar to the kettle. The sugar could not be found, but the kettle was boiled, and the water was poured into a number of cups, which Clarke then poured over Ms Byrne's hands and arms. Ms Byrne described the pain as “excruciating” but said she “just had to bear it”.

During the assault, Ms Byrne said Clarke repeatedly asked her where the drugs were, but she did not know. Ms Byrne's wrists were then bound with a phone charger and a scarf was tied around her mouth.

The court heard that a number of men called to Ms Byrne and Mr Black’s apartment and assaulted the couple. Ms Byrne was tied up, hit over the hands, arms and chest with a stick and repeatedly scalded with boiling water. Ms Byrne told gardaí she was tortured by Clarke (29) and thought she was going to die from the pain she endured, after he poured a kettle and several cups of freshly boiled water over her during the two attacks.

Clarke sat her down in the chair and began hitting her with the stick. He tried to pour boiling water in her face at one point, but missed when she managed to turn her head aside.

The court heard Ms Byrne was in “absolute agony” and her skin was blistering. She said Clarke then told her: “You think that's bad, wait until I skin you alive.”

The men left shortly afterwards and Ms Byrne, who had called 999 before they arrived, ran out of the apartment and was met by two gardaí. She was taken to hospital and treated for second degree burns and a suspected collapsed lung.

In her victim impact statement, which was not read out in court, Ms Byrne said it was

“the most traumatic and frightening thing to have ever happened to her,” and that it changed her life forever.

She “genuinely thought she was going to die from the pain,” Mr Baker said.

The court was also told that Mr. Black failed to cooperate with Gardaí. This was most likely out of fear of further attacks from these violent thugs who would be back on the streets in no time at all.

Clarke has been in custody ever since being arrested for the attack. The court was told he has 79 previous convictions including several for assaulting a peace officer, violent behaviour in a garda station, public order offences and assault causing harm.

Judge Nolan said Clarke’s behaviour against Ms Byrne was “incredibly serious”.

He handed down a sentence of four years and three months and backdated it to November 2021 when Clarke went into custody.

Kelly meanwhile has 109 previous offences, mostly road traffic offences, but also for drug offences and robbery.

Keith Spencer BL, defending, said his client had spent about four and a half months in custody on this matter. The maximum sentence for simple assault is six months.

Judge Nolan handed Kelly a five-month sentence for his role in the incident and took into account the time he has already spent in custody, noting Kelly would not spend much longer in custody as a result.

Defence counsel for Conlon told the court he was the youngest defendant by 10 years and had just turned 18 on the day in question. He has no previous convictions.

He said Conlon “broke ranks” with his co-accused and pleaded guilty at an early opportunity, compared to the other two who entered guilty pleas on the first day of his trial. He expressed remorse, the court heard.

Judge Martin Nolan said it would be unjust to imprison Conlon as he was not the “prime mover” of this assault.

The judge sentenced Conlon to three years but suspended it in full, ordering him to be of good behaviour and abide by the supervision of the Probation Services for a year.

Judge Nolan said that although Conlon did help in the assault, he probably did not expect that his co-accused Paul Clarke would scald using boiling water.

“The prime mover of this assault was Clarke. Conlon had a much lesser role. He pleaded early, he’s still young, and he has no record of conviction,” added the judge.

On Tuesday, Judge Nolan sentenced Paul Clarke to four years and three months for attacking Ms Byrne and her partner Emmet Black at their apartment over the course of two days.

Patrick Moore, father, caregiver & Cannabis grower got 5 years for his crime of growing plants that helped patients left down by Irelands MCAP.

Patrick Moore was a caregiver, that is someone who produces cannabis for medical use, mostly oil, which is used by people with cancer, other serious conditions and for end-of-life care. Before sentencing him, Judge Catherine Staines read eight or nine testimonials from people he had been supplying.

One was from the daughter of an elderly man who has suffered with Huntington’s Disease for nearly 20 years. When he started using the oil that Patrick Moore had provided at no cost, he regained his power of speech, he was able to swallow again and no longer needed all his food to be pureed. He also experienced far fewer lung infections and pneumonia. His sleep improved and his energy and vitality for life returned.

Another was from the parents of a boy who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of four and given two years to live. That was six years ago and he is still alive today. Patrick Moore provided oil free of charge and the family is in no doubt that it saved their son’s life.

How is it that Irelands judges can find it unjust to give a scumbag who took part in an assault prison time while having no problem send a non violent family man like Patrick Moore to prison?

Even the person described as the “prime mover of the assault” got less of a prison sentence than Patrick Moore.

Ireland justice system is in serious need of reform, its insane that violent thugs get treated as less of a threat to society than those who grow cannabis, especially those who grow cannabis for the care of patients.

People like Patrick Moore will be celebrated in the not too distant future when Cannabis Prohibition is brought to an end. Patrick Moore stepped up and cared for those in his community, something that can't be said of our policy makers who have failed the patients needing access to cannabis on several occasions.

Let hope change happens soon, with Patrick and other cannabis prisoners reunited with their family and friends.

In the meantime if you could continue to reach out to your local elected representatives and share stories like Patrick Moore's and others who have been victimised by Cannabis Prohibition.

#CannabisReformIreland

#FreePatrickMoore