The Court of Appeal increased the sentences imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to two cannabis possession offences, finding that the original terms were unduly lenient because the sentencing judge set the starting sentences too low.
The court quashed the original sentences and imposed six years on each count, with the final year of each sentence suspended. The sentences run concurrently and date from 31 December 2016. The court also found exceptional and specific circumstances that made it unjust to impose the statutory presumptive minimum of 10 years. It did not impose consecutive sentences.
The man had pleaded guilty in May 2017 to possessing cannabis worth at least €13,000 for sale or supply, contrary to section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Six other counts were taken into consideration. In October 2017, the sentencing judge imposed concurrent five-year sentences, with the last two years suspended. The Director of Public Prosecutions sought a review under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, arguing that the sentences were unduly lenient.
The offences arose from searches of grow houses at Castle Road in Dundalk and St Patrick’s Road in Drumcondra. At Castle Road, Gardaí found 103 cannabis plants, 150 saplings and cannabis herb. The judgment put the total value, including the potential value of the saplings, at €210,000. At St Patrick’s Road, Gardaí found 180 mature plants valued at €144,000. The judgment described the man as an organiser who arranged properties and sourced equipment, but below a person identified in court as “Mr Z”, whom the sentencing judge described as the operation’s controller.
The Court of Appeal placed the man’s role in the second tier of grow-house involvement: more than a low-level operative, but not the operation’s top organiser. It said the seriousness of the offences belonged centrally in the mid-range and that the original five-year starting sentences were too low. It nevertheless rejected the argument that the sentencing judge had allowed too much for mitigation.
The court found that the guilty pleas and cooperation, including providing the code to unlock his phone, amounted to exceptional and specific circumstances. Information from the phone helped Gardaí locate the second grow house, the judgment said. The court concluded that those circumstances justified a sentence below the 10-year minimum. It set a headline sentence of eight years on each count, reduced each by two years for mitigation, and suspended one further year on each to encourage rehabilitation and reflect the increase on review.