A BEEF farmer with 200 acres in Co Tipperary has been sentenced to six months imprisonment for possessing angel dust and other illegal hormones on dates between September, 1993, and February, 1995.
Ronald Armitage, Uskane Borrisokane, had pleaded guilty to 12 charges of possessing the banned drugs at his Tipperary farm and on a rented farm at Croghan, Co Roscommon.
He was one of five farmers dealt with at a special sitting of Athlone District Court yesterday, when fines totalling £29,000 were imposed on summonses relating to illegal animal drug abuse.
Armitage, married with four children, who lives on his 200 acre farm, also was fined £12,000 by Judge Mary Fahy.
Mr Decian Holmes, a Department of Agriculture inspector, said he carried out the Croghan search, where Armitage had rented land, on September 30th, 1993. The two summonses arising from this search related to the possession of clenbuterol, commonly known as angel dust.
He also took part in a raid at Borrisokane on October 11th 1993, where a substantial quantity of illegal substances in the form of a hormone "cocktail" was among items found in a cemetery adjacent to his farm.
There was a cattle crush built in the ruins of a church and, he said, the substances had been thrown out the window of the church into an adjoining cemetery.
Mr Holmes said the defendant did not make any reply as to whether he owned them. Later, after summonses were issued, he accepted responsibility.
Mr Noel Kelly, another member of the raiding team which searched the defendant's farm on March 3rd, 1994, said he found bottles which he thought might contain illegal drugs around cattle crushes.
On examination, the substances were identified as a hormone cocktail" and an implant cartridge containing illegal hormones.
Mr Gerry Purcell, a Department inspector, said he took part in a search of the Tipperary farm on September 30th, 1993, where he found animal feed treated with angel dust, the usual way of administering the substance.
He also took part in a further search of the defendants farm on February 13th, 1995, when clenbuterol and illegal hormones were found.
Mr Paddy Cadell, solicitor, said his client acknowledged that what had happened was very wrong and he had done nothing to obstruct the Department officials in the course of their duty.
He said that his client had no previous convictions and in fact had never been inside a courtroom before.
Judge Fahy fined the defendant £1,000 on two summonses relating to the September 30th raids.
Dealing with the October 11th raid in 1993, she said the defendant would have been aware of the seriousness of the situation after the September raid.
She said she could only surmise that his reason for carrying on was greed and total recklessness on his part in relation to the impact of his actions on other people.
"It is incredible that he persisted," she said. "He carried on through to 1995."
She had no option but to impose a custodial sentence of six months.
Having imposed four concurrent six month sentences and fining him a total of £12,000, the judge said this was one of the worst cases she had ever come across.
"In its continuity, it is shocking in the extreme," she said.
Armitage was released on bail of his own surety of £5,000 and an independent surety of £10,000 pending an appeal.