The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Andrejs Trifonovs against a three-year prison sentence for cultivating cannabis, leaving the sentence in place.
Mr Trifonovs had pleaded guilty to one count under section 17 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court sentenced him on 4 October 2016. The Court of Appeal heard his challenge to the severity of that sentence and delivered judgment on 30 January 2018.
Gardaí found 17 cannabis plants, valued at an estimated €17,000, in a locked upstairs room at a house in Loughmourne, Castleblayney, on 30 March 2015. The judgment said Mr Trifonovs had rented the house and allowed Gardaí to enter. In interviews, he said another person was involved and that his own role included tending the plants at an early stage. The evidence did not establish the exact division of responsibility or the degree of control he exercised.
The Court of Appeal said the operation was commercial, planned and conducted for profit. It concluded that Mr Trifonovs was significantly involved: he had procured the rental, helped bring in and set up equipment, and tended the crop. The court placed the offence towards the upper end of the lower range of seriousness for the offence.
The sentencing judge had identified a four-year headline sentence and reduced it to three years to account for mitigating circumstances. These included Mr Trifonovs’s early guilty plea, cooperation with Gardaí, employment record, family circumstances and poor English. The appeal court said the 25 per cent reduction was within the sentencing judge’s discretion, although another judge might have allowed a greater reduction.
Mr Trifonovs also argued that the sentencing judge gave insufficient weight to the probation report and character reference, and should have considered suspending some or all of the sentence or imposing a non-custodial option. The report described him as presenting a low risk of reoffending. The court found no error in refusing those options: Mr Trifonovs was due to be surrendered to Latvia under a European Arrest Warrant after completing any Irish prison term, and would then be unavailable for supervision or community service.
The appeal was dismissed. The three-year prison sentence therefore remains in force.