The Court of Appeal has dismissed a Director of Public Prosecutions appeal seeking to increase the sentence imposed on Christopher Geraghty for possessing PVP worth €242,984 for supply.
Geraghty received four years’ imprisonment, with two years suspended, from Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 4 October 2017. The offence occurred on 15 October 2014. The Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered on 15 October 2018, said the sentence was lenient and perhaps unduly lenient, but concluded that the case was wholly exceptional and dismissed the appeal.
The DPP accepted the Circuit Court judge’s starting point of five years and six months and the reduction to four years. The appeal concerned the suspension of half the sentence. The DPP argued that the sentencing judge gave too little weight to the offence’s gravity, the need for deterrence, Geraghty’s role in distribution and his previous offending. Counsel for Geraghty argued that the offending was not at the highest level and pointed to his drug difficulties, willingness to engage with rehabilitation and unusual release and recharge history.
The judgment said Gardaí found 6.942kg of PVP in Geraghty’s flat in Santry during a warranted search on the offence date. He said he was holding the drugs as a favour and would receive cocaine in return. He also said he would deliver them when contacted with a time and location. The court adopted the more benign interpretation of ambiguous evidence about whether he had acted under threat. It said the evidence did not establish the amount of any drug debt.
The case had been interrupted by the 2015 High Court ruling in *Bederev v Ireland*, which held that the statutory instrument making PVP a controlled drug was invalid. Geraghty was released from custody in March 2015 after about five months, and a nolle prosequi was entered on 13 March. The Supreme Court later reversed the High Court decision. Geraghty was recharged on 5 September 2016 and pleaded guilty at his first Circuit Criminal Court appearance on 16 February 2017.
The Court of Appeal said the delay following *Bederev* was the principal exceptional factor against increasing the sentence. It also considered Geraghty’s imminent release a modest factor. The court therefore left the Circuit Court sentence in place and dismissed the DPP’s appeal.