The Court of Appeal allowed Christopher Seery’s appeal against his sentence for possessing controlled drugs for unlawful sale or supply. It replaced the nine-and-a-half-year prison term with the same term, suspending the final two years subject to a €100 bond and further conditions.
The court said the sentencing judge had not adequately accounted for Seery’s rehabilitation, which was already under way when he was sentenced and had continued. The court noted his exemplary conduct in prison and that he had been placed in an open prison. It said a suspended element was appropriate in light of this mitigation.
Seery had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 15 July 2013. On 26 November 2013, he was sentenced to nine and a half years’ imprisonment, running from that date, for one count of possessing controlled drugs for unlawful sale or supply. The sentencing court also ordered the drugs forfeited and destroyed, and directed that €144,420 seized during the investigation be confiscated to the State. The appeal concerned the prison sentence.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment said gardaí searched Seery’s property at 91 Ratoath Avenue, Finglas, on 9 March 2012. They found cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy tablets with an approximate street value exceeding €400,000, as well as about €144,000 in cash. The drugs and cash were found in three upstairs bedrooms and the attic, where most of the drugs were located.
The judgment said Seery made full admissions when questioned, including that he had dealt drugs for the previous year. Gardaí considered him candid and cooperative, and said he materially assisted them. They were satisfied that he held most of the drugs and cash for a third party. The judgment also described a later incident in which a third party discharged a firearm outside Seery’s home after he had been released on bail; gardaí understood it to be connected to his arrest and the seizure of drugs and cash.
The sentencing judge had recognised mitigating factors, including the guilty plea, cooperation, remorse, work history and family circumstances. The Court of Appeal said the judge correctly found that circumstances justified departing from the statutory ten-year minimum, but had failed to give sufficient weight to rehabilitation. It imposed the two-year suspended portion on condition that Seery enter a €100 bond. The suspended term applies for the remainder of his time in custody and for three years after release.