The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an application for leave to appeal a seven-year prison sentence imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine for unlawful supply.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Chief Justice Murray on 28 July 2010, said the sentence was not unduly severe and found no basis to conclude that the trial judge had erred in principle. The application was dismissed; the court did not alter the sentence.
The offence took place on 21 September 2004. Customs officers found cocaine concealed in shirts in a package that had arrived at Dublin Airport. The package was addressed to a person at Fairview Strand, Dublin. Gardaí arranged a delivery, and the applicant, who was at the address, accepted and signed for it, although he was not the named recipient. A search of the flat later found him as its sole occupant and the shirts under a bed.
The cocaine weighed 603.5 grams and was estimated to have a market value of about €43,000. The judgment said the applicant was not the operation’s main instigator and was not a person of substantial means. He pleaded guilty on 27 July 2005. A later request to change his plea was refused by the Circuit Court.
At sentencing, the trial judge found exceptional circumstances allowing a sentence below the ten-year minimum under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. He imposed seven years, backdated to 10 March 2008, when the applicant was placed in custody. The judge considered mitigation including the guilty plea, the applicant’s conduct during the investigation and information provided to Gardaí. The applicant had remained at large after missing a court appearance in July 2006, following his mother’s death; the trial judge treated that breach leniently.
The applicant argued that the sentence was too severe, that he deserved greater credit for his plea and assistance, and that part of the term should have been suspended. The appeal court said the trial judge had given the mitigating factors the maximum weight possible in the circumstances. It rejected the argument for a partly suspended term, noting the seriousness of the offence and the applicant’s knowing involvement in the supply chain for a significant cocaine consignment.
The court also clarified that a guilty plea may be considered when deciding whether exceptional circumstances justify going below the statutory minimum, but that a plea alone does not establish such circumstances. The decision depends on the full circumstances of each case.