The Court of Appeal has reduced Farid Fawzi’s sentence for possessing controlled drugs with intent to supply from 10 years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, to seven years, with the final six months suspended for two years.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 5 March 2019, the court allowed an appeal against the severity of sentence. It quashed the original sentence and resentenced Fawzi. The headline sentence remained 10 years, but the court applied a three-year reduction for mitigating factors.
Fawzi had pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on 6 March 2018 to one count of possessing controlled drugs with intent to supply, contrary to section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. The original sentence had been backdated to 18 December 2017.
The offence followed a search on 15 September 2016 at a premises in Coneybeg, Rathpeacon, County Cork, where Fawzi resided. Gardaí recovered cannabis valued at €94,550 and cocaine valued at €3,160. Fawzi was not there. A phone found at the premises contained messages about drug sales and supply, and Gardaí used information from the messages to locate drugs at other places. The judgment says messages indicated Fawzi was in Killarney; after his arrest there, he admitted involvement and said he had directed operations remotely. The court noted that his admissions were particularly valuable because several people lived at the house.
The appeal argued that the sentencing judge had given insufficient weight to mitigation, the guilty plea and assistance in the investigation, and the public interest in rehabilitation. Counsel accepted that the 10-year headline sentence was within the trial judge’s discretion. He argued that the plea and admissions deserved greater weight, given the difficulty of proving possession without them.
The Court of Appeal agreed that the plea was particularly valuable, though it was not entered at the first opportunity: Fawzi had been returned for trial in October and absconded. The court held that the effective two-year reduction was an error in principle and that the appropriate reduction was three years. It also considered generally favourable prison governor’s reports when resentencing.
The final six months of the seven-year term were suspended for two years. The conditions require Fawzi to keep the peace and be of good behaviour during imprisonment and for two years afterwards, and to place himself under the supervision of the probation and welfare service.