Apartment searched under warrant.

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Hi

I'm not looking for legal advice, just a little insight into how things work.

Last night, during the football, the Gardaí arrived to my apartment (I rent from my friend who also lives there).

There were five of us there, myself, my landlord and three others.

The Gardaí nearly bashed the door down with the force that they knocked, then when one of the lads opened the door, they just rushed in to the apartment, waving the warrant around, saying they were here to do a search with a warrant issued under the Misuse Of Drugs Act. I didn't see the warrant, as my flatmate was shown it, then it flew back into the Garda's pocket. Apparently it had Cocaine specified on it. (Would this be the case?)

We asked for more information, but all they kept repeating was that it was a search with a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

So, the five lads were in the Kitchen/Sitting room with three Gardaí, one taking all of our details, one on the phone and another just standing around.

Two of them went into my friend's bedroom and closed the door behind him. I questioned this, and the Garda who seemed to be in charge said we couldn't move unless he told us to.

They then searched the storage room, our pockets, and finally my bedroom, again with the door closed.

After that they came into the Kitchen/Sitting Room and moved us all into my bedroom, and searched the now empty room. (We missed the goal in the Man Utd match because of this, the feckers ).

Now. When they first came into the kitchen there was some weed on the table (herbal cannabis), personally I do not smoke any form of cannabis, or in fact, dabble in any drugs, so I'm a bit rusty on the weights and measures of such things, but there was about as much weed in the bag as herbs you'd add to a stew or casserole, a goodly pinch I suppose. My flatmate immediately owned up to owning the bag of weed, fair play to him. One of the other lads also had some hash in his pocket, later he said it was less than a quarter ounce. There would have been the butt of one joint in the ashtray, but the Gradaí either didn't spot this, or didn't care.

Just to give the full picture, one of the Gardaí who was searching the bedrooms had a gun in his belt, and they also had a small, steel 'battering ram' which I'm sure they would have used if we hadn't have answered the door.

So, after searching for about fifteen minutes, all they found was the small amount of weed and hash, the lads said the amount they had couldn't possibly be construed as being for dealing, and could only be seen as for personal use, anyway, no-one was arrested so I'm sure the Gardaí thought the same.

Now, some questions.

The Gardaí onbviously thought the apartment was some kind of base for dealing, which I am truly baffled for. Myself and my flatmates have fairly regular comings and goings (to work, the pub etc) and the only visitors we'd have would be his family (his brother has just become a father) and a friend of mine would call once perhaps once a fortnight.

Was the presence of six Gardaí, once with a gun, a bit strong if all they were expecting to find was a bit of cannabis?

How could they possibly have obtained a warrant, in the complete absence, in my opinion, of evidence that anything untoward was going on in the place (in fact I know there was nothing on the scale that this force of search could possibly mean, neither myself or my flatmate, or either of my three other friends are drug dealers)?

Was this a major mistake on the part of the Gardaí, or could they have multiple warrants issued for the same apartment block?

One last thing. As they were leaving they told us that those who had been found with the cannabis would be summonsed. As far as I know no-one was arrested or charged, could a summons possibly be now issued?

Could this have been a malicious tip off by someone with a grudge to bear against either myself of my flatmate that the Gardaí acted on (there's no-one either of us could think of that would do this, for what it's worth).

There was some minor damage to some personal possessions of mine during the search, is there anything I could do about this?

Please, if this comes accross as me having a go at the Gardaí, I'm not. I know they have jobs to do, and that they can make mistakes, but the five of us were left pretty shaken, confused and somewhat angry at this turn of events.

Thanks for reading folks

CTU_Agent

Firstly, the owner of the premises specified on the warrant should have had a chance to read it. Also Im not sure of the legality of the officer searching rooms unaccompanied. (perhaps a more savvy legal mind can answer that)

It does all sound a bit iffy. Armed detectives and that.

If they damaged your property you can submit a claim for the damage, but trust me the time it would take for them even to admit they caused the damage, it just wouldn't be worth it.

Im sure if any arrests were made the warrant and search method wouldnt stand up in court with a good defence on your side.

If you really feel hard done by, perhaps a letter outlining your complaint to the Garda Ombudsman would be justified. Bear in mind though, illegal substances were found on the premises and the gardai could have arrested those in possession.

Probably not much help to you, just my two cents after I read your piece.

seamus

Des, go speak as a group to a solicitor. You can't really get legal advice here. I know you "disclaimed" it at the start of the post, but in reality that's still what you're doing

Not least the two lads who may be summonsed would do well to get themselves solicitors.

FWIW, they would have the steel battering ram to open the door if you didn't answer. That's par for the course, not really anything to worry about. The Garda with the gun was probably a detective, who carry guns routinely. Again, nothing to be worried about.

To me, it sounds like a case of mistaken identity - someone somewhere in the block reported strange comings and goings and your place got mistakenly fingered.

Seriously, go talk to a solicitor. Between the group of you, a two or three hour consultation isn't a hefty price to pay for peace of mind.