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Man who got suspended sentence for delivering €120k in cannabis is jailed after DPP appeal
Summary
Brian O'Grady, 32, of Finglas, pleaded guilty to possessing 20 kg of cannabis resin worth €122,000 in February 2016. He had delivered the drugs to pay off his step‑brother's €2,000 debt. The original court gave a wholly suspended five‑year sentence, a decision the Director of Public Prosecutions challenged as unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal, in a three‑judge panel, imposed a two‑and‑a‑half‑year jail term, with the remaining two‑and‑a‑half years suspended. O'Grady had 11 prior convictions and had lost his job six months before the offence. He is now in Britain working in construction. The appeal court found his decision to commit the crime was a conscious choice, not merely a product of addiction or family pressure, and therefore the suspended sentence was too lenient. The new sentence will run from the date he first goes into custody.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man who got suspended sentence for delivering €120k in cannabis is jailed after DPP appeal. Charges or matters: one count of possessing cannabis resin for sale or supply at Aldi car park in Finglas on February 12 2016. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- February 12 2016 Incident
- 2018-07-19 Publication
Why: A Dublin man who was pressured into delivering more than €120,000 worth of cannabis in order to pay off his brother's drug debt has been given a two-and-a-half year jail term after his original suspended sentence was deemed too lenient. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: one count of possessing cannabis resin for sale or supply at Aldi car park in Finglas on February 12 2016 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: O'Grady's father broke down in tears when Judge Martin Nolan said he would take the "unusual step" of departing from the mandatory minimum 10-year jail term and hand down a wholly suspended five-year sentence. O'Grady, who has moved to Britain and is making a new life for himself there working in construction, was re-sentenced to five years imprisonment with the final two-and-a-half years suspended.
Places mentioned
- Liam Mellows Road
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
Topics
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