Patrick Farrelly's sentence increased after cannabis appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal increased Patrick Farrelly's sentence to five years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended, on 9 March 2018. The proceedings were reported on 9 March 2018.

Farrelly, 26, of Stag Park, Mitchelstown, Cork, had pleaded guilty to possessing €66,000 worth of drugs, mostly cannabis, for sale or supply at his home. The offence took place on 26 November 2016. He also pleaded guilty to possessing €3,692 worth of cannabis five months before the more serious offence.

On 17 May 2017, Judge Gerard O'Brien sentenced him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to three and a half years in prison for the more serious offence, with the final 18 months suspended. The sentences were concurrent, leaving a net two-year jail term.

The Director of Public Prosecutions successfully sought a review on the grounds that the sentence was too lenient. Counsel for the DPP, Imelda Kelly BL, described the three-and-a-half-year headline sentence as unduly lenient. Mr Justice Alan Mahon said the Court of Appeal agreed that the sentence was unduly lenient.

The new sentence was backdated to run concurrently with the unchanged 12-month sentence for the earlier offence. Mr Justice Mahon said that sentence had probably been served by then. He sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards.

Mr Justice Mahon said Farrelly was not at home when gardaí found the drugs. He was arrested the following morning and made full admissions, telling gardaí he owed a large drug debt and was holding the drugs for another party.