The Court of Appeal has upheld Kevin Lawlor’s effective four-year prison term for possessing almost €23,000 worth of controlled drugs for sale or supply in Mayfield, Cork.
Gardaí searched 29 Shannon Lawn on 7 June 2019. In a downstairs room they found a bag containing 21 bars of cannabis resin and 5,452 Alprazolam tablets. The combined street value was estimated at €22,982.
Lawlor arrived at the house while Gardaí were questioning the male occupant. He was arrested and admitted that the drugs belonged to him and were intended for sale or supply. He also told Gardaí that the man whose room contained the drugs was a friend who did not know they were there. Garda Tom Crowley described that occupant as vulnerable.
Lawlor entered signed guilty pleas and was sentenced at Cork City Circuit Court in November 2020. The judge departed from the statutory presumptive ten-year minimum and selected a seven-year headline sentence. After mitigation, that was reduced to five years with the final year suspended, leaving four years to serve.
On appeal, Lawlor argued that the €22,982 valuation placed the case at the lower end of section 15A offending and that more credit should have been given for his early plea, admissions and cooperation.
The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments. It said drug value was only one factor. Lawlor also had a previous conviction for sale and supply of drugs, the seizure contained two different controlled substances and the drugs were stored in the bedroom of a person Gardaí regarded as vulnerable.
The court found no error in the seven-year headline term. It also held that reducing the sentence to five years and then suspending one year represented generous mitigation.
The appeal was dismissed and the original sentence remained in place.