The Court of Appeal has dismissed Valerij Safonov’s sentence appeal arising from a cannabis-growing operation worth an estimated €158,320 at Bourlum Wood in Co Carlow.
Safonov pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply and possession of a controlled drug. A cultivation charge was taken into consideration. A separate section 15A charge was discontinued.
Gardaí had carried out surveillance at the Green Road property before obtaining a search warrant. When officers entered, they detected a strong smell of cannabis and found Safonov wearing gardening gloves.
The house contained two grow tents and equipment designed to channel the smell of cannabis through the upper part of the property rather than onto the street. Detective Garda Philip O’Sullivan described it as a very professional and methodical operation.
Investigators valued 4.616kg of harvested cannabis at €92,320. Another 83 plants were valued at €66,400, bringing the total estimated value to €158,320.
Safonov told the sentencing court that he had not been growing cannabis for sale and claimed he was cultivating it for scientific reasons to neutralise its effects. The trial judge rejected the suggestion that he was a scientist and found that he had deliberately concealed the activity.
The judge selected a 15-year headline sentence before mitigation. Safonov had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, had no previous convictions, was assessed as a low risk of reoffending and had made significant educational and rehabilitative progress in custody.
On appeal, his lawyers argued that the 15-year starting point was excessive.
The Court of Appeal agreed that the headline sentence was too high and amounted to an error in principle. However, it found that the approximately eight-year reduction subsequently allowed for mitigation had been over-generous.
The court said an appropriate starting point would have been between ten and 12 years, followed by a substantial reduction. As the ultimate sentence remained within the lawful range, the appeal was dismissed.