A father and daughter have been remanded in custody in relation to the discovery of €1.5 million worth of cocaine and cannabis and €399,000 of cannabis, respectively, at two addresses in Co Kilkenny.
Leo Hayden (50) of Assumption Place, Kilkenny, was charged on Saturday night with possession of €1.5 million worth of cocaine and cannabis, for sale or supply, after he was arrested on Thursday night.
The offence is alleged to have occurred at Mill Road, Gowran.
His daughter, Melissa Hayden (20) of Ayrfield, Lord Edward Street, Kilkenny, is charged with possession of cannabis resin worth €399,000 at Assumption Place in Kilkenny.
Both were brought before a special sitting of Kilkenny district court this afternoon.
Mr Hayden’s solicitor, Elizabeth Mitrow, said there was no application at this time for bail but asked if her client could be remanded to a prison “as close as possible to Kilkenny” to make it easier for his family to visit.
Judge Gerard Furlong said the remand prison was Cloverhill but a new application could be made at a later date.
He also ordered the appropriate medical attention to be given to Mr Hayden after hearing he had a heart condition.
Detective Garda Rebecca Daly of the Garda National Drugs Unit said she charged him on Saturday night with six separate charges relating to the €1.5 million in cocaine and cannabis and said he made “no reply” to the charges.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill district court this Wednesday.
Detective Garda Aisling Hobbs said she charged Melissa Hayden on Saturday night and there was “no reply” to either of the two charges relating to €399,000 worth of cannabis resin.
Inspector Liam Connolly objected to bail and Garda Daly said the accused had a step-mother in England and her father had family in England.
The garda accepted that Ms Hayden had been living with her mother in Kilkenny for the last six years and also grew up in Kilkenny.
Solicitor Brian Chesser said any visits his client made to England were to visit her father, but he wasn’t in England at the moment, “he’s here, obviously”.
Judge Gerard Furlong remanded her in custody but with consent to bail, on two independent sureties of €10,000 each with two deposits of €5,000.
He ordered the accused, if she made bail, to live with her mother at Ayrfield, observe a curfew between 11pm and 7.30am, sign on twice daily at Kilkenny Garda station and surrender her passport.
Mr Chesser said his client wouldn’t be in a position to take up the bail immediately.
Legal aid was granted in both cases when the court heard neither accused was working.