Stephen Grant's jail time reduced by two years on cannabis appeal

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

Stephen Grant had his jail time reduced by two years after a successful appeal. Presiding judge Mr Justice Frank Clarke said the court would increase his sentence from eight to ten years, suspending the final four years. The proceedings were reported on 28 July 2014.

In May 2011, Judge Martin Nolan had jailed Grant for eight years. Grant had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of drugs for sale or supply. The offence involved cannabis resin worth €1,976,244 at a truck wash in Greenogue, Rathcoole, on 1 September 2009.

At the sentence hearing, it was submitted that Grant had drug addiction problems and had made serious efforts to rehabilitate himself. His counsel, Mr Padraig Dwyer SC, argued on 28 July 2014 that insufficient weight had been given to mitigation, particularly rehabilitation, and excessive weight to aggravating factors. The report listed Grant's early guilty plea, previous contribution to his community, low likelihood of further offending and significant rehabilitation efforts among the mitigating factors.

Mr Justice Frank Clarke said the revised sentence took account of mitigation and rehabilitation. He said it gave Grant an opportunity to be released earlier if he continued his progress, while exposing him to serious consequences if he offended again.