Courts

‘Walter Mitty’ character sentenced to 11½ years for flying cocaine worth €8.4m into Ireland

Accused had claimed he was forced to participate in importation by two men who threatened his daughter

Tim Gilchrist was jailed by Judge Keenan Johnson at Mullingar District Court on Thursday. Photograph: Alan Betson
Tim Gilchrist was jailed by Judge Keenan Johnson at Mullingar District Court on Thursday. Photograph: Alan Betson
Tom Tuite
Thu Jul 04 2024 - 13:22

A “Walter Mitty-type” character who played an “important logistical role” in smuggling €8.4 million worth of cocaine to Ireland via an aerodrome in Co Longford has been jailed for 11 years.

Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) officers kept a Cessna single-engine aircraft, which flew from Dieppe in France, under surveillance when it landed at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome on the evening of August 4th, 2022.

They later intercepted Tim Gilchrist in a car in the Lough Owel area of Co Westmeath and recovered 120kg of cocaine.

The 56-year-old, of Mavis Bank, Newrath, Waterford, who told gardaí he was a company director with business interests in Uganda, pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to possessing drugs worth €13,000 or more for sale or supply at Lough Owel on the date of his arrest. He also admitted unlawfully importing the cocaine in the light aircraft.

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Prosecution evidence was heard on Tuesday and the case was adjourned until Thursday when Judge Keenan Johnson handed down an 11½ year sentence, with the final six months suspended.

Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, Co Longford. Source: Google Streetview
Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, Co Longford. Source: Google Streetview

The judge voiced concerns about “open corridor” airfields around the country and called for “significant upgrading” of security and 24-hour monitoring and checks.

The court heard Gilchrist used the Cessna for “leisure” flying and had claimed he was pressured by two men to collect the drugs from Dieppe. He said they had told him he would have a “problem” if he did not co-operate and one had threatened to harm his daughter.

Gilchrist spent 24 hours in Dieppe before returning. When caught, he had his personal phone and a second one with just two contacts. The second phone was bought “solely for use in communication for the importation”, the court heard.

Analysis of the phone showed Gilchrist was sending and receiving messages from people around the aerodrome in Longford shortly before landing. One said: “A lot of guys around, be careful.”

Gilchrist claimed he was helping the plane’s pilot build up flying hours and the court heard there had been six known flights. Det Sgt Cummins believed Gilchrist’s story was “fanciful” and that he had done “almost identical trips” before. The court heard gardaí could not corroborate Gilchrist’s claim about having been under duress.

Det Sgt Cummins agreed with Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, that Gilchrist’s guilty plea was valuable. In mitigation, Mr O’Higgins said his client had one child, lived in a modest home he had inherited and there was no suggestion he had an excessive lifestyle.

Mr O’Higgins said his client appeared to be “something of a Walter Mitty character”. Counsel asked the judge to note that a hierarchy was always involved in setting up this kind of case. The person caught carrying the drugs was the weakest link in the chain and the most expendable.

The judge noted the considerable degree of planning and Gilchrist’s “active and important logistical role” and held the accused did it for financial gain. Judge Johnson set a headline of 16½ years but said the term could be reduced due to the guilty plea, information heard in mitigation and Gilchrist’s lack of previous convictions. The sentence was backdated to August 4th, 2020, when he went into custody.