‘unduly lenient’ | 

Suspended sentence for possession of drugs worth €28k should be quashed, appeal court rules

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court had a ‘very clear view’ that the trial judge fell into error

Today at 18:44

The fully suspended sentence handed down to a 29-year-old man for possession of cocaine and cannabis with a street value of in excess of €28,000 was unduly lenient and should be quashed, the Court of Appeal has found.

The three-judge court today ruled that the sentencing judge fell into error in fully suspending the three and a half year sentence imposed on Dylan Clements.

Clements, with an address in Finglas, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2023 to one count of possession of drugs for sale or supply contrary to Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act and was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court the following day.

The remaining four counts on the indictment, two counts of possession of cannabis and cocaine for sale or supply and two counts of possession of cannabis and cocaine, were taken into consideration.

In an appeal against the leniency of the sentence imposed, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) stated in submissions that gardaí obtained and executed a warrant to search the home of the respondent on August 3, 2021.

Clements was present in his upstairs bedroom and outlined to gardaí that he had cannabis resin in his possession, which he handed over to gardaí.

Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, for Clements, said there had been no error in law and argued that the judge was entitled to impose a fully suspended sentence.

She said the sentencing judge was highly experienced, had considered the case for some time and then delivered sentence after taking into account “a variety of factors”, including the information heard in court from gardaí, observations in court and submissions made to him.

Counsel said the respondent had never been in court before and had “never been on the garda radar at all”.

After rising for a short time, the three judges returned and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court had a “very clear view” that the trial judge fell into error, in particular by his failure to apply the law as laid down in recent case law. He said the sentence had been unduly lenient and there was no evidence of “special circumstances” of an “extraordinary nature” to give rise to the suspension of the entirety of the sentence.

The court ordered that a probation report be prepared and adjourned the matter to July 23 when the court said it will proceed to quash the original sentence and resentence the respondent.