Bianca Francisco’s appeal against ecstasy sentence struck out

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Bianca Francisco’s appeal against her sentence was struck out at the Court of Appeal on 23 March 2021 after she did not appear. The proceedings were reported on 23 March 2021.

Her barrister, Luigi Rea BL, said Francisco had appealed because she wanted to stay in Ireland. He said a solicitor had been unable to contact her and he could not explain her absence; he suggested she may have left the country. Anne Collins, state solicitor acting for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said gardaí believed Francisco was still living in Ireland because she had been collecting Pandemic Unemployment Payments.

Mr Justice John Edwards, sitting with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, struck out the appeal. He said that if Francisco was believed to be in breach of a condition of her suspended sentence, it was a matter for the director.

Francisco pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a controlled substance for sale or supply at her home. On 4 May 2017, she was found with more than €4,000 worth of ecstasy tablets in her Dublin flat. She told gardaí she was holding the drugs for somebody and was not being paid.

In February 2018, Garda Cian Fleming told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that weighing scales and €1,060 in cash were also seized during the search. The court heard that Francisco had been on bail awaiting sentence for a previous offence of holding drugs for sale or supply in November 2016.

Judge Patrick Quinn suspended a 12-month prison sentence on condition that Francisco leave Ireland within three months. He accepted that she was embarrassed and ashamed and said her involvement probably arose from economic necessity, though that was not an excuse. Rea said at the appeal hearing that Francisco had entered a bond to leave but decided to appeal because she wished to remain.