The Court of Criminal Appeal allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions’ application to review as unduly lenient the sentence imposed on Edward Anthony Farrell for transporting 8.0175kg of heroin into Ireland. It nevertheless permitted the original sentence to stand, finding that the exceptional circumstances made it unacceptable to order him to serve the suspended portion after he had been released and resumed his life.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Finnegan on 21 December 2010, concerned an eight-year prison sentence imposed on 6 November 2007, with the final six years suspended. The court found that the sentencing judge had erred in principle by failing to assess the offence’s gravity and identify an appropriate starting sentence before considering mitigation. It placed the offending in the upper middle range and said a notional sentence of 12 years was appropriate.
The respondent had been driving a van stopped by Customs officers at Rosslare Ferry-Port on 14 June 2007. A search found two concealed compartments containing the heroin. Garda evidence put its market value at more than €1.6 million. The court described him as a transporter of a very large quantity of drugs. It said his claim that he did not know the drug type or quantity did not reduce the offence’s seriousness.
The court considered mitigating matters including his heroin addiction, an early indication of a guilty plea, remorse the sentencing judge had found genuine, and prospects of rehabilitation. It also accepted that the sentencing judge could give weight to Farrell’s account that he acted under threats to himself and his family, though that account was unverified. The court said co-operation with Gardaí was distinct from “material assistance” under the relevant legislation, for which the available record did not establish the required evidence.
The court said the sentence was very lenient and its suspension was a departure from principle, making the sentence unduly lenient. It allowed the DPP’s application. However, Farrell had been released on 28 February 2009 after serving the custodial portion, and nearly two years had passed while he was at liberty. The court said the unusual delay and disruption, without fault by Farrell or his lawyers, made further imprisonment an unacceptable disregard for his humanity. It therefore let the original sentence stand in the exceptional circumstances of the case.