A Tipperary grandmother has received a 10-year jail sentence for possessing more than €320,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply.
Marie Norris (42), Elm Park, Clonmel, had pleaded not guilty to charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
She was convicted by a jury after a two-day trial at the Circuit Court in Clonmel last month. Yesterday, at a sitting of the Circuit Court in Carlow, Judge Alice Doyle sentenced Norris to 10 years in prison.
The 10-year sentence is the minimum for offences involving drugs with a value in excess of €13,000.
The court heard Norris had been under surveillance by the Tipperary Garda Divisional Drugs Unit. Det Garda Séamus Moran told the judge they had secured a warrant to search her house in June 2005 and found the drugs in Norris's bedroom.
The stash consisted of one kilogram of cocaine with an estimated street value of €70,000 and 35kg of cannabis resin worth about €250,000.
Det Moran said that when Norris was questioned about the drugs she told gardaí, "I never saw them before and I don't know where they came from."
The court heard that Norris, who is separated, is the mother of two sons and has a number of grandchildren. One of her sons died four years ago at the age of 19 from a drugs overdose.