A beef supplier from Co Longford has been jailed for 18 months and fined £19,500 for possession of illegal growth promoters. Liam Davis, of Drumlish, was found guilty at Longford District Court yesterday of possessing illegal growth hormones, having animals which tested positive for a prohibited substance called Trenbolone, and of obstructing a Department of Agriculture investigation.
His father, John Davis, who pleaded guilty to possession of the illegal growth hormones, implant guns and needles, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined £6,500. Both men intend to appeal.
During his judgment, Judge Murrough Connellan said such practices "tarnish the name of Irish meat and do irreparable damage to our market at home and abroad".
"The substances found are not the type that put a shudder of fear in all of us, namely clenbuterol or angel dust, to use a layman's term," John Davis's solicitor said. The court was told that as regards harmful substances, Trenbolone was considered to be at the lower end of the scale.
Defence counsel, Mr John Phelan, pointed out that while they had been "beavering away in the District Court on this case, there were some major developments on the international scene. Such growth-promoting hormones are only banned within the EU, and at a World Trade Organisation conference in Zurich a panel of three judges declared the ban on certain substances, such as Trenbolone, within the EU is illegal." He said he was not looking for a declaration that the law was void but asked for this unique situation to be taken into consideration.
The judge said there had been a deliberate attempt on Liam Davis's part to obstruct the investigation by Department of Agriculture officials. He had not given a full and proper declaration until confronted with the facts by the special investigator, Mr Brian Flaherty. At the start of the case in March, the defence submitted that Liam Davis's constitutional rights had been infringed when Department officials searched his premises. Mr Flaherty claimed it was within his rights to search the premises, as it was an office and not a residence. The court ruled in favour of the Department officials and deemed the rest of the evidence admissible. In his judgment, the judge said he saw no reason to change that earlier ruling. In his testimony, Davis said his son knew nothing of the implant gun, needles or hormones. "I simply do not accept Mr John Davis's testimony," said the judge. He said attempts to hide the records and to conceal the animals at a farm in Edgeworthstown pointed to guilty knowledge of possession. The defence maintained that the bottles which contained the animal urine samples could be opened and closed at any stage and could have been tampered with. They claimed that the security of the sample bottles was inadequate.
The judge said he noted the points raised on the taking and storage of the urine. While he said the sampling in these sort of cases fell far short of the requirements under the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving cases), he was not prepared to dismiss the evidence on those grounds.
Davis's legal team accused the State laboratory of adopting a "slapdash" approach to testing the samples. Judge Connellan said he was quite satisfied on hearing the evidence of Dr Bridin Brady at the State laboratory that all the proper procedures had been followed.
Counsel for the State, Mr Eanna Molloy, said the animals which had tested positive for Trenbolone were paid for by Davis Meats. Counsel for the defence argued that there was no evidence that Liam Davis had bought the animals for himself.
The judge rejected the argument. "Liam Davis is the 99 per cent owner of Davis Meats Ltd, and each cow he purchased was for himself in his own name." He said he did not accept that the animals could have been implanted before they were purchased. "Mr Davis was fully aware of this fact and was in possession and control of the animals" he said.