The Court of Appeal has refused an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions to review as unduly lenient a five-year sentence that was suspended in full for a man who pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis for supply.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Mahon on 22 February 2016, concerned a sentence imposed on 5 May 2015. The man had pleaded guilty in the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin to an offence involving cannabis valued at €180,000.
The court heard that gardaí stopped and searched the man’s vehicle on Ballyowen Road, Lucan, on 17 April 2014. Officers had been conducting surveillance and observed a transfer of drugs to his vehicle at a car park in Liffey Valley. After his arrest, he admitted knowing the consignment was cannabis and said he was to be paid €500 to transport it. Gardaí accepted that transporting the drugs was the extent of his involvement.
The sentencing judge imposed five years’ imprisonment but suspended the whole term for five years, on condition that the man enter a €100 bond and keep the peace and be of good behaviour. The judge cited his guilty plea, admissions and cooperation, as well as his medical condition, which he considered the overriding factor. Medical reports described insulin-dependent diabetes, advanced vascular disease, amputations, a stroke, severe pain and depression.
The Director argued that the sentencing judge had placed the offence too low on the scale of seriousness, given the value of the drugs and the man’s role in transporting them; failed to give proper weight to sentencing ranges and the presumptive ten-year minimum; and gave excessive weight to mitigation.
The Court of Appeal accepted that drug possession for supply in a significant quantity would normally warrant a substantial custodial sentence, even where mitigation justified a departure from the minimum. It found, however, that the sentencing judge had properly exercised discretion to impose a five-year headline sentence below the ten-year minimum, in light of exceptional circumstances including the guilty plea and cooperation.
The appeal court said the man’s serious medical condition, including his wheelchair dependence and chronic pain, would make imprisonment significantly more difficult. It noted his condition had worsened after sentencing and that he had since undergone amputation of his left lower leg. The court concluded that suspending the full term was lenient but not unduly lenient, and refused the application. The five-year suspended sentence remained in place.