The Court of Appeal has reduced Richard Folan’s effective prison term over a €3.5 million drugs seizure at his father’s home in Stamullen, Co Meath.
Folan had received ten years' imprisonment with the final three years suspended for a section 15A drugs offence. The appeal court replaced that sentence with seven years, of which the final 18 months are suspended. The result is an effective custodial term of five and a half years.
Gardaí searched the Stamullen property on June 29, 2017 after surveillance connected with drug dealing in the Meath area. They found drugs concealed in the attic and in a van. The seizure included 7.6kg of cannabis, 4.2kg of cannabis resin and about 8.7kg of MDMA.
Folan cooperated during the search and helped Gardaí locate the drugs. After his arrest, he made detailed admissions about his involvement and other similar activity.
He said he had initially agreed while drunk to store drugs for another person. His role later expanded to making deliveries. Folan told Gardaí he had tried to withdraw but was threatened. The sentencing judge accepted that he was a lower-level conduit rather than an organiser and had made little significant financial gain.
The Court of Appeal maintained the ten-year starting point. However, it found that insufficient weight had been given to mitigation.
Folan had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, materially assisted Gardaí, was essentially of previous good character and had strong testimonials. His alcoholism and difficult personal circumstances had also made him vulnerable when he became involved.
The appeal judges were additionally concerned that nearly all of the mitigation had been expressed through a three-year suspended term. They said this created a risk that a relapse into even minor offending could cause Folan to lose much of the benefit originally allowed for mitigation.
The court instead applied a three-year direct reduction and suspended a further 18 months to encourage continued rehabilitation. Folan will also be supervised by the Probation Service after release.