The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the severity of a six-year prison sentence imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to possessing 76kg of cannabis for sale or supply.
The court, comprising Birmingham J., Sheehan J. and Edwards J., delivered its judgment on 19 February 2016. Sheehan J. said the sentencing judge had approached the matter carefully and made no error of principle.
The appellant pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 28 November 2014 to an offence under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, as amended. The cannabis had an estimated street value of €1.5 million. After a sentence hearing on 18 February 2015, he received six years’ imprisonment, backdated to his arrest on 5 May 2014.
The Court of Appeal heard that a Garda surveillance operation had observed the appellant transferring boxes from a white Volvo lorry to another person at North West Business Park in Mulhuddart on the day of his arrest. The boxes contained cannabis. The judgment said he had collected the drugs in Warrington, in the UK, while travelling from Holland to Ireland. After his arrest, he made full admissions at Clondalkin Garda station.
The appellant argued that the sentence was excessive and that the sentencing judge had not given enough weight to his early guilty plea, cooperation and material assistance to gardaí, lack of previous convictions, personal circumstances and the fact the drug was cannabis. His counsel also argued that a five-year sentence given to a co-accused created an unjustified disparity.
The court rejected the disparity argument, citing the limited information available about the co-accused. It noted that the sentencing judge had considered the appellant’s guilty plea, cooperation, assistance, clean record and family circumstances, as well as the statutory framework for the offence. The court said the six-year term was not out of line with sentences for similar quantities of cannabis in similar circumstances.
The appeal was dismissed. The Court of Appeal did not alter the sentence.