The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed Michael Byrne’s appeal against an 18-year prison sentence for possessing heroin worth €6.2 million for sale or supply.
A jury found Byrne guilty in March 2010 of three counts, including the principal offence under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The two other drug counts were taken into consideration when he was sentenced. The appeal court, in a judgment delivered by Murray J. on 6 July 2012, found no error in principle in the sentence and upheld it.
The convictions followed a Garda surveillance operation on 15 January 2008. The judgment says Detective Sergeant Sheehan saw Byrne at the rear of a van filling plastic bags with taped packages. Byrne ran after Gardaí called on him to stop and was later apprehended. Gardaí found heroin in the bags and van, as well as similarly packed packages in a park. The judgment records that about 32kg was seized, valued at €6.2 million.
At trial, Byrne said the packages must have been left by someone he had just driven to the airport and that he panicked when he discovered what they contained. The jury rejected that account. The judgment records 19 previous convictions, mainly for petty offences, but none for drug possession.
One appeal ground argued that the trial judge had penalised Byrne for defending the case, including by giving evidence. The appeal court rejected that argument. It said the sentencing judge had expressly acknowledged that an accused was entitled to contest the case and must not be punished for doing so. The court considered the judge’s remarks about Byrne’s evidence in that context: Byrne did not qualify for the more sympathetic treatment that might follow an early guilty plea and genuine remorse. It added that comments about the way a defence is conducted are generally best avoided because they can create a misleading impression.
The court said the offence carried a statutory minimum sentence of 10 years unless exceptional and specific circumstances made that unjust. It found no suggestion of such circumstances here. In upholding 18 years, the court cited the quantity and value of the heroin, its type and Byrne’s record as aggravating considerations. It also noted that he had been in steady employment and was not shown to have acted through addiction, poverty or vulnerability. The appeal was dismissed.