The Court of Appeal quashed Molly Sloyan’s ten-year sentence for possessing cocaine worth more than €13,000 for supply and resentenced her to five years’ imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended on conditions.
In a written judgment delivered on 8 October 2019, the court said the original headline sentence was too high for the scale of the operation and quantity of drugs involved. It set a headline sentence of seven years, then reduced it by two years to reflect mitigation. The court also cited evidence of Sloyan’s progress towards rehabilitation when suspending a further 18 months.
The suspended portion is conditional on Sloyan keeping the peace and being of good behaviour for two years after her release. She must also submit to and cooperate fully with Probation Service supervision during that period.
Sloyan had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. The court said she had provided material assistance and that imposing the presumptive ten-year minimum would be unjust in the circumstances. It held that the sentencing judge had been right to reach that conclusion, but had made an error of principle by choosing a ten-year headline sentence.
The court upheld the sentencing judge’s overall assessment of Sloyan’s role. It said she was not the scheme’s mastermind or at the top of its hierarchy, but knowingly and willingly provided important logistical support. She was not directly involved in extracting the cocaine. The court said it was an overstatement to say the operation could not have proceeded without her, but that this alone did not amount to an error of principle in the judge’s assessment of her role.
The operation involved cocaine-impregnated fabric and an extraction process using solvent. Gardaí found an extraction laboratory in a locked bedroom at a rented house in Bantry, along with suspected cocaine and equipment. The judgment put the total value of the cocaine at €51,292 and described the operation as sophisticated but modest in scale compared with other cases.
Sloyan’s original sentence, imposed in May 2018, was ten years with the final three years suspended. The Court of Appeal had allowed her appeal and resentenced her at the conclusion of the hearing in July 2019; this judgment set out its reasons.