The Court of Appeal has quashed a fully suspended three-year sentence imposed on Pearl Kenna for a cocaine offence and re-sentenced her to three years’ imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended.
The court delivered its judgment on 14 May 2024 on an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions to review the sentence as unduly lenient. It held that the custody threshold had been passed and that suspending the whole sentence was an error in principle. The court suspended the final 18 months on the same terms and conditions imposed in the Circuit Criminal Court.
Kenna pleaded guilty in May 2023 to possessing drugs for sale or supply, contrary to section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. The original sentence was imposed in November 2023.
The judgment said Gardaí found 344.3 grams of cocaine, valued at about €24,000, in a black bag at Kenna’s home during a 2021 search. The bag also contained creatine, used as a mixing agent, and drug paraphernalia. Kenna pointed out the bag and admitted in interview that she had mixed, weighed and bagged drugs for payment of about €500, doing so every month or six weeks over six or seven months. She did not identify who paid her.
The sentencing judge had cited her guilty plea, cooperation, lack of previous convictions, work history and family responsibilities as mitigation. He assessed her culpability as low and considered it unlikely she would return to serious crime. The Court of Appeal agreed that her culpability was low and that significant mitigation applied, including her immediate admissions and personal circumstances. It said, however, that her role for financial gain affected her culpability and did not consider it among the very lowest in the operation.
The appeal court set a five-year headline sentence, reduced it to three years to account for mitigation, and suspended the final 18 months. It also noted evidence that Kenna’s drug use was greater than she had initially indicated and that she had been under some pressure. The court said the circumstances did not justify suspending the entire sentence.
The DPP had argued that the original sentence was unduly lenient, citing the scale and duration of the activity and the need for deterrence. Kenna’s side submitted that the sentencing judge had properly considered her circumstances and rehabilitation. The Court of Appeal’s decision replaced the original sentence following a fresh re-sentencing.