The Court of Appeal has dismissed Daniel Brereton’s appeal against the severity of a six-year prison sentence for possession of cannabis for sale or supply. It found no error in the sentencing judge’s decision to impose a six-year term after setting a seven-year headline sentence and departing from the presumptive 10-year minimum.
A jury had convicted Brereton of unlawful possession of a controlled drug and possession for sale or supply. He was acquitted on two other counts. The Court of Appeal’s judgment, delivered on 27 June 2024, concerned sentence only.
At the sentencing hearing, the court heard that gardaí found 982 grams of cannabis, valued at about €19,500, at Brereton’s home. Four small “deal bags” and scales with cannabis traces were on the kitchen counters. Four larger bags were behind a loose bath panel. No one was at the house when it was searched. Brereton met gardaí by arrangement two days later.
The sentencing judge treated the sale-or-supply count as the principal offence and took the possession count into consideration. She assessed the offending in the mid-range and set a seven-year headline sentence. Although the legislation provides for a presumptive minimum of 10 years, she considered it unjust to impose that minimum in the circumstances. She cited the way the trial was conducted, Brereton’s family and work circumstances, his voluntary activity and the passage of time, then reduced the sentence to six years from 1 February 2024.
Brereton argued on appeal that the seven-year headline was excessive and that the judge had not given enough weight to mitigation. He relied on the absence of evidence of significant financial gain or a high-level role in drug dealing, and said his conduct after a later drug-related conviction showed rehabilitation. The Director of Public Prosecutions argued that the sentence was justified by the aggravating circumstances, including the drugs being kept in a family home, and by Brereton’s record and the absence of a guilty plea or material assistance.
The Court of Appeal said a sentencing judge who finds that the presumptive minimum would be unjust may impose an appropriate lower sentence, but must still have regard to the minimum as an indication of the offence’s seriousness. It considered the sentencing judge’s decision to depart from the minimum generous, noting that Brereton had not pleaded guilty and that his meeting with gardaí took place after the search.
The appeal court also said the drugs’ location suggested Brereton had more than a peripheral role in the supply, and noted his significant criminal record, including a later conviction for allowing premises to be used for drug-related activity. It found no error in the seven-year headline or the reduction to six years for mitigation. The appeal was dismissed.