The Court of Appeal has increased Rory Kilkenny’s sentence for his role in a large-scale cannabis cultivation operation in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, finding the original sentence unduly lenient.
In a judgment delivered on 22 February 2016, the court quashed the sentence imposed by Kilkenny Circuit Court and substituted 12 years’ imprisonment, with the final four years suspended. The review was brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The appeal concerned only the Piltown offence.
The Circuit Court had sentenced Kilkenny to ten years, with the final six suspended, for an offence under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. It also imposed a concurrent four-year sentence for another section 15A offence relating to a separate Wexford matter. The Court of Appeal’s order replaced the sentence for the Piltown offence; the judgment does not state that it altered the concurrent sentence for the Wexford offence.
Gardaí searched two industrial units in Piltown on 2 May 2012 and found 2,504 cannabis plants and 43.54kg of cannabis herb. The court was told the drugs had a stated value of €2,874,174, but accepted that this was a notional estimate of their expected value at maturity, not their value on the search date. The units had been fitted for cultivation and packaging on a large scale.
The judgment records that Kilkenny admitted signing a lease for the units using false names. Other evidence described to the court included his involvement in buying a vacuum packer and ordering vacuum bags. A wrapped kilogram of cannabis found at the site bore his fingerprints. The Court of Appeal described his role as central and distinguished it from that of workers tending the plants.
The sentencing judge had treated Kilkenny’s guilty plea, his mother’s serious ill health and his role in her care as mitigating factors, and accepted that his remorse was genuine. The appeal court noted that his plea was not made at the first opportunity and that his involvement in a separate significant drug offence in Wexford in June 2014 was disturbing. It nevertheless accepted the sentencing judge’s assessment of his attitude at the time of sentence and took account of his conduct in prison.
The Court of Appeal said a sentence review requires a substantial departure from the appropriate sentence. It concluded that a starting sentence above ten years was required and that the original sentence fell below the proper level. It imposed 12 years, suspending four years in light of the plea, the sentencing judge’s assessment and information about Kilkenny’s conduct in custody.