The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the severity of a seven-year sentence imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis worth about €18,000 for sale or supply. The sentence suspended its final three years on condition that he leave Ireland on release and remain outside the country for seven years.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Edwards on 19 April 2016, found no error of principle in the sentence. It held that the departure condition was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances and did not undermine the sentencing judge’s allowance for mitigation.
The appellant had pleaded guilty before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on 29 October 2014 to an offence under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. The offence related to cannabis found at co-accused David Majewski’s home in Crookstown, Pullerick, County Cork. The sentence was seven years’ imprisonment, backdated to 6 February 2014, with the final three years suspended on conditions.
The underlying investigation began after Gardaí received a report of suspicious activity at Field’s car park in Carrigfadda, Skibbereen. In a later operation, officers stopped a car and a man who had received a package containing cannabis valued at €6,000. Gardaí found about €2,855 in the car. Information given during interviews led officers to search Majewski’s home, where cannabis worth about €18,000 was found. Majewski said the drugs were not his, and Gardaí became satisfied that was correct.
Majewski pleaded guilty to a separate section 15 offence concerning the car-park incident and received an 18-month sentence, fully suspended. At his sentencing, his role was accepted to have been minor: he had allowed the appellant to keep drugs at his home and driven him to Skibbereen. The Court of Appeal agreed that the different sentences were justified by the different offences and Majewski’s lesser role.
The appellant argued that the seven-year exclusion condition was unduly onerous, particularly because he was a Polish national and an EU citizen. He also relied on his guilty plea, cooperation, lack of previous convictions and personal circumstances. The respondent submitted that the sentencing judge had authority to impose the condition and that the mitigating factors had been addressed.
The appeal court said courts must attach reasonable and proportionate conditions to suspended sentences. It considered the appellant’s eight months’ residence in Ireland, age, family and economic circumstances, and the absence of evidence that he had developed meaningful social or cultural ties here. His identified living relative was his seven-year-old daughter in Poland. The court also noted that he entered the bond without asking the sentencing court to vary its terms.
The court concluded that the three-year suspended portion remained an effective allowance for mitigation, and dismissed the appeal on all grounds. The sentence and its conditions therefore remained in place.