Director of Public Prosecutions v Delacey [2019] IECA 262 (18 October 2019)
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Birmingham P.
Kennedy J.
Donnelly J.
THE COURT OF APPEAL
Record Number: 145CJA/18
BETWEEN/
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
APPELLANT/
- AND -
DARREN DELACEY.
RESPONDENT
JUDGMENT of the Court delivered on the 18th day of October 2019 by Ms. Justice
Kennedy.
1. This is an application brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions pursuant to the
provisions of s. 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, seeking a review on grounds of undue
leniency of a sentence imposed on the respondent on the 24th April 2018. The respondent
pleaded guilty to a count of unlawful possession of controlled drugs with an aggregate
market value of €108,087 contrary to s. 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, as
amended and two counts of possession of cannabis and cannabis resin contrary to s. 3 of
the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, as amended (“the 1977 Act”). A sentence of four years’
imprisonment was imposed in respect of the offence contrary to s. 15A. The remaining
counts were taken into consideration.
Background
2. On the 22nd May 2017, an Garda Síochána received confidential information in relation to
the movement of controlled substances. On the basis of this information, members of an
Garda Síochána drove towards Inchicore where they followed a car in which the
respondent was a passenger. The car was then stopped, and a plastic bag was removed
from between the respondent’s feet. This bag was found to contain 744 grams of heroin
and 55 grams of cocaine with a combined street value of €108,087. Following this, a
search warrant was executed in respect of the respondent’s home and a small amount of
cannabis herb and cannabis resin was found on the premises.
3. The respondent was then arrested and interviewed. During the course of his interviews,
the respondent accepted that he was carrying drugs, but he initially maintained that he
did not know the particular type of drugs he was carrying. The respondent maintained
that he was to receive the sum of €500.00 for the drop-off and that he needed the money
to discharge a drug debt.
The Sentence
4. At the sentence hearing, and prior to evidence, counsel for the prosecution addressed the
Court. It transpired that the respondent had, on the 27th October 2017, been convicted
of two offences contrary to s. 15A. These offences occurred on the same date; 11th May
2016. The offence which is the subject of this appeal was committed on the 22nd May
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2017. The sentencing judge was informed that, although this was the respondent’s third
s. 15A conviction, albeit committed on the same date, the respondent had not been
convicted of the first two offences at the time of the commission of the present offence
and therefore the sentencing judge was not bound by the mandatory minimum sentence
under s. 27(3F) of the 1977 Act and retained a discretion to depart from the presumptive
minimum 10 year sentence in terms of s. 27(3D) of the 1977 Act.
5. The sentencing judge acknowledged in terms, that as the offence in question was
committed on bail, the sentence was required to be consecutive and therefore the Court
would have regard to the totality principle in imposing sentence.
6. The judge in imposing sentence said as follows:-
“Now, obviously in dealing with this man Mr DeLacey, I must take into account
what he did. I must also take into account that he has a conviction -- or two
convictions, but essentially really one conviction for section 15A. It seems he was
sentenced to seven years with the last three suspended. Now, obviously if the --
let's say if matters had, let's say, occurred in a different juxtaposition, my hands
would have been tied. I would have had to impose a 10-year custodial sentence
consecutive to the sentence he's currently serving; obviously I could have put in a
review date in relation to Mr de Lacy and obviously that date couldn't be below five
years. I'm going to take it, I suppose, a little bit, I'm going to do it a simpler way,
in my own eyes at least, I am going to try to sentence him globally for his
misbehaviour in relation to all of the counts that I have knowledge of.
Now, he has a history of offending, he has had his difficulty in his background. It
seems that he's an intelligent enough man, he's capable of work. He has his
personal responsibilities. It seems that he's an agreeable man and it seems that he
can reform himself, but the question will he, I'm not sure. Nobody knows that, but
obviously he must be given some hope. Now, I can depart from the mandatory
minimum of 10-years for the co-operation and his plea, the question is how far
should I depart? Obviously, in departing I have to take into account the nature of
his crime, the facts of his crime, but I'm also to take into account that he's serving
a reasonably substantial sentence at this current time”
7. The judge concluded by imposing a sentence of four years’ imprisonment to run
consecutively to the sentence of seven years with three years suspended currently being
served by the respondent, giving an effective sentence of eight years’ imprisonment.
When asked about the headline sentence, the sentencing judge stated, “I would say the
headline sentence would have been probably seven.”
Personal Circumstances
8. The respondent was 35 years old at the time of sentencing. He has a long-term partner
and a 13-year-old son. The Court heard that the respondent has tragic personal
circumstances and addiction issues which had a bearing on the commission of the offence
in question as he owed a significant debt due in part to his addiction.
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9. The respondent has 65 previous convictions including 50 convictions for road traffic
offences, ten convictions for public order offences, one conviction for a theft offence and
one conviction for the unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle. The respondent’s most
recent conviction at the time of sentencing related to the aforementioned s. 15A
convictions before Mullingar Circuit Court.
Grounds of Appeal
10. The appellant puts forward the following grounds of appeal:-
1. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in principle in departing from his obligation
under Section 27(3C) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 to specify a term of not less
than 10 years as the minimum term of imprisonment to be served by the
Respondent in the circumstances.
2. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in principle in imposing a sentence which was
lesser in terms of its severity than the sentence imposed on the 27th October 2017
by Mullingar Circuit Court in respect of the Respondent's first two convictions under
Section 15A.
3. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in failing to attach sufficient
weight to the 64 previous convictions of the Respondent, which included convictions
for offences contrary to Section 15A.
4. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in failing to attach sufficient
weight to the fact that this was the Respondent's second conviction under Section
15A and that his first two Section 15A offences had been committed only a year
prior to the offence before the court.
5. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in failing to attach sufficient
weight to the fact that the offence before it had been committed by the Respondent
whilst he was on bail and/or in failing to treat the commission of the offence whilst
on bail as an aggravating factor.
6. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in failing to have appropriate
regard to the nature of the offence and/or the harm caused to society by drug
trafficking and in failing to impose a sentence which reflected the inherent gravity
of the offence.
7. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact by attaching excessive
weight to the Respondent's role in the distribution of the controlled drugs in
question and to the fact that he did not own the drugs but was merely transporting
them for another individual.
8. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in attaching undue weight to
the mitigating factors in the case.
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9. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in his application of the
proportionality and totality principles.
10. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in law and in fact in the imposition of such a
lenient sentence as such was not in the public interest in all the circumstances and
the sentence imposed would not act as a deterrent to other persons and would not
prevent further crimes.
11. The learned Sentencing Judge erred in principle in imposing an unduly lenient
sentence in all the circumstances
Submissions of the DPP
11. In her oral submissions, Ms Coonan BL on behalf of the appellant places considerable
emphasis on her submission that the judge erred in departing from the presumptive
minimum sentence of 10 years as prescribed by s. 27(3C) and she submits that the
judges’ reasoning for so departing was not readily apparent. Moreover, she says that the
judge erred in failing to consider the respondent’s previous drug trafficking convictions,
pursuant to s. 27(3D)(c)(i) and the provisions of s. 27(3D)(c)(ii) which concern the public
interest in preventing drug trafficking.
12. She also submits that the judge erred in taking account of the possibility that the
respondent would rehabilitate himself in circumstances where she says there was no
evidence of any effort made by the respondent in this regard.
13. The appellant argues that the judge erred in imposing a sentence which was less severe
than that imposed for the Mullingar offences when there was little to distinguish the
offences and where the offence in the instant case was committed one year later and
whilst the respondent was on bail.
14. Several aggravating factors are identified, to which, it is submitted, the judge did not
attach sufficient weight. These include the respondent’s previous convictions; the fact that
this was the respondent’s second s. 15A conviction; that this offence was committed
whilst on bail, and the nature and gravity of the offence.
15. Ms Coonan further argues that the judge attached undue weight to the mitigating factors
and submits that excessive credit should not be afforded to a plea of guilty where an
accused is caught red-handed, as in the instant case.
16. She says that the judge erred in applying sentencing principles with particular reference
to proportionality and totality in reviewing the overall sentence.
17. Finally, it is submitted that the sentence imposed was not in the public interest and would
not operate as a deterrent to other persons.
Submissions of the respondent
18. Mr O’Higgins SC on behalf of the respondent submits that there were a number of factors
present which could allow the trial judge to conclude that there were exceptional and
specific circumstances enabling him to determine that it would be unjust to impose the
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presumptive minimum sentence. These include, he argues, material assistance, an early
plea of guilty, the role of the respondent and his personal circumstances.
19. He submits that the remarks of the trial judge in relation to the rehabilitation of the
respondent cannot be construed as a basis for concluding that it was appropriate to
depart from the minimum sentence but rather a remark on leaving the respondent some
incentive to reform himself, which is a legitimate consideration in sentencing, particularly
given the addiction problems of the respondent.
20. Moreover, he submits that the factors referred to by the appellant were given due weight
by the trial judge and this is reflected in the sentence ultimately imposed. None of the
factors identified by the appellant precluded the trial judge from concluding that he ought
to depart from the ten-year minimum sentence.
21. The respondent accepts that the trial judge did not follow the sentencing process
advocated by this Court but the absence of such does not mean that the sentence
imposed is undermined. The respondent points to the fact that the trial judge stated that
the headline sentence “would have been probably seven” and it is submitted that this
makes clear that the trial judge did not arrive at the final sentence by applying mitigation
directly to ten years, as suggested by the appellant.
22. In relation to the appellant’s arguments concerning the weight given to the various
mitigating and aggravating factors, the respondent submits that this can be considered by
first looking at the headline sentence imposed and then considering whether the discount
afforded to the respondent was a substantial departure from what was appropriate in light
of the mitigating factors and the totality principle. In respect of the seven-year headline
sentence, the respondent refers to The People (DPP) v. Samuilis [2018] IECA 316 where
Edwards J. stated the following:-
“In s. 15 and in s.15A cases the range of available penalties (ignoring at this stage
any presumptive mandatory minimum) ranges from zero (i.e., non – custodial
options) up to life imprisonment. However, in the great majority of cases the
effective maximum usually tops out at around fifteen years. There will, of course,
always be truly egregious cases where even higher sentences might be justified. If
one divides the effective range that operates in most cases by three, that allows for
a low range from zero to five years, a mid-range from five to ten years, and an
upper range from ten to fifteen years.”
The respondent submits that this places the instant offence in the middle of the medium
range of sentence, which is accurate. While there are various factors that clearly
heightened the gravity of the offences committed by the respondent, these were
tempered to some extent by matters impacting the respondent’s overall culpability.
23. By reducing the sentence by three years, the respondent submits that the early plea of
guilty, the personal circumstances of the respondent and the co-operation with the Gardaí
were such to allow the sentencing judge to apply a significant discount. The respondent
Page 6 ⇓
submits that a further crucial consideration was the fact that the sentence was to run
consecutively, thus requiring the trial judge to apply the totality principle when
considering the final sentence to be imposed. The respondent submits that this justified
further discounts from the headline sentence beyond those merited by the mitigating
factors alone.
24. Furthermore, Mr O’Higgins argues that there can be no error in imposing a different
sentence for the Dublin offence as opposed to the Mullingar offences as the trial judge
had to abide by the totality principle in sentencing the respondent.
25. Finally, it is submitted that the sentence in the instant case must be seen as part of a
whole and not merely a four-year sentence but rather an eight-year sentence. Viewed in
this light, it is clear that this sentence is an adequate deterrent.
The Principles
26. The jurisprudence in this area is well settled. Over 24 years ago in The People (DPP) v
Byrne [1995] 1 ILRM 279, it was established that nothing save a substantial departure
from what would be regarded as the appropriate sentence would justify the intervention
by a reviewing court. A sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and
the personal circumstances of the offender. In the instant case there were significant
aggravating features and mitigating features, many of which were specifically identified
by the sentencing judge.
Section 15A
27. Section 15A of the 1977 Act, has been the subject of many decisions of the Superior
Courts. The maximum sentence for an offence under this section is one of life
imprisonment. The harm caused to society is expressly recognised by s. 27 (3D) (a) of
the 1977 Act and in providing for a presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years, the Act
does so in light of the harm caused to society by drug trafficking. This is the rationale for
the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence, but of course a court may depart from
that in certain circumstances, some of which are prescribed by statute. There can be no
doubt therefore that this is a very serious offence and one which the Oireachtas has
recognised and acknowledged as such.
28. We consider the optimum approach for a court, in sentencing an offender for an offence
contrary to s.15A, is to approach sentencing in the usual manner, that is by assessing the
gravity of the offence, with regard to the offender’s culpability and with reference to the
harm done, or perhaps more accurately, in this instance, the potential for harm, should
the drugs have reached the intended destination.
29. In order to assess gravity, the moral culpability of an offender must be assessed. This
may include aggravating and extenuating factors. In assessing the moral culpability of an
offender, a judge is assessing the blameworthiness of the person whom he or she is about
to sentence. Having nominated a notional or pre-mitigation sentence, the judge may then
proceed to justify the sentence downwards, if appropriate, by virtue of any mitigating
factors present.
Page 7 ⇓
30. If the sentence is above the presumptive minimum, then, that is the sentence to be
imposed. If, however, the sentence is below 10 years, the judge must assess whether by
reason of exceptional and specific circumstances concerning the offence and/or the
offender, it would be unjust to impose the presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years.
31. The 1977 Act was amended by virtue of the Criminal Justice Acts 2006 and 2007. In
considering whether to depart from the presumptive minimum, a court may have regard
to any matters it considers appropriate which include, but obviously are not limited to, the
matters specifically provided for by statute. These are well-known and include whether
the person has pleaded guilty to the offence and the stage at which and the
circumstances in which such indication was given, and whether material assistance was
provided regarding the investigation of the offence.
32. Moreover, a court when deciding whether it would be unjust to impose the presumptive
minimum sentence may have regard to whether the offender has a previous conviction for
a drug trafficking offence (s. 27 (3D) (c)(i)) and whether the public interest in preventing
drug trafficking would be served by the imposition of a lesser sentence (s .27 (3D)(c)(ii)).
The Present Case
33. The respondent has two previous convictions for offences contrary to section 15A,
although as both convictions arose from the same investigation, the appellant relies on
this offence as being a second, rather than a third conviction under section 15A. This
previous conviction therefore was a matter which the sentencing court could take into
consideration pursuant to the 1977 Act. In any event, even excluding the provisions of
s.27 (3D)(c)(i), and in accordance with sentencing principles, a conviction for a similar
offence can aggravate an offence.
The Aggravating Factors
34. Encapsulated in the assessment of the gravity of the offence will be the assessment of the
role of the particular offender. Obviously the more significant role the greater the moral
culpability or blameworthiness of the offender. In the instant case, the respondent
admitted that he was transporting the drugs from Dublin to Limerick. It appears from the
evidence that the respondent was aware that he was transporting drugs, albeit he
indicated he did not know the nature of the drugs in question. It is apparent that he had a
lesser role than those managing the operation; he was not directing proceedings, rather
he was acting under instruction to deliver the drugs. His role was therefore a lesser one,
that of a transporter.
35. The evidence disclosed that the respondent was a drug addict at the time of the offence,
with an addiction to cocaine and that he was to get €500 for the drop-off. Moreover, he
had a significant drug debt. In his interview with the gardaí when asked about his drug
debt; and specifically, as to whether it was as a result of his own drug use, he gave what
Mr O’Higgins properly describes as a rather curious response by saying “half and half”. He
was asked to clarify, and he told the gardai that this meant that he acquired half the debt
as a result of his drug habit and the other half from drugs that ‘went missing’. In
Page 8 ⇓
assessing his moral culpability, the fact of his drug habit and the fact of his drug debt
serve to mitigate his moral culpability due to the coercive nature of those factors.
36. In summary, the aggravating factors in the instant case include the value of the drugs,
the nature of the drugs; the fact that the respondent was on bail at the time he
committed this offence, his previous conviction for an offence contrary to section 15A and
also the fact that there was some, albeit limited, financial gain although this latter factor
is mitigated by virtue of his drug addiction and his drug debt. His role was that of a
conduit, which whilst a lesser role, was nonetheless a position of some trust.
37. The appellant takes issue with the trial judge’s assessment of the pre-mitigation figure of
7 years and asserts that this is simply too low.
The Mitigating Factors
38. It is undoubtedly so that there were many mitigating factors in the present case, the most
significant of which was the respondent’s early plea of guilty. Whilst the appellant argues
that less weight should be given to this factor as the respondent was caught red-handed,
nonetheless it is a significant mitigating factor. Further mitigating factors include his co-
operation with the gardaí, his immediate admissions in interview, his tragic personal
circumstances; including the death of his two sisters, his now stable family relationships
and the fact that he has a good work record and that he completed various courses in
order to improve his prospects. It seems his circumstances deteriorated after the death of
his sister in 2006; he began abusing cannabis and, from 2015, cocaine. He has 65
previous convictions, notwithstanding that some 50 of those were for road traffic matters,
the result is a progressive loss mitigation.
39. Mr O’Higgins requested the court below and this court to consider that the sentence to be
imposed had to be consecutive given the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. The
judge therefore had to have regard to the totality principle to ensure that the sentence
which was imposed was proportionate in terms of the gravity of the offence and the
personal circumstances of the respondent. In this respect the judge took the view that he
was going to sentence the respondent in a global manner for his misconduct in relation to
all matters of which he had knowledge. In imposing sentence, the judge specifically
indicated that he was taking into consideration the fact that the respondent was serving a
sentence. He clearly had regard to the totality principle. Ultimately having identified and
considered the relevant factors the judge imposed a sentence of four years on this count
consecutive to the unsuspended portion of the sentence of seven years, previously
imposed on the respondent, giving a total actual sentence of eight years imprisonment.
40. In so imposing, the trial judge adjusted downwards the notional, pre-mitigation sentence
from seven years, having taken into account the mitigating present and the requirement
that the sentence be imposed on a consecutive basis.
Departure from the Presumptive Minimum
41. Ms. Coonan argues that it was unclear from the judge’s sentencing remarks as to the
reason why he departed from the presumptive minimum sentence. We disagree with this
suggestion. In fact, whilst the judge’s sentencing remarks may be succinct, this does not
Page 9 ⇓
have the effect of an absence of clarity. Indeed, quite the opposite is the case. The
judge in deciding that the respondent fell within s. 27(3D)(a), noted the respondent’s plea
of guilty and his co-operation and posed the question as to how far he should depart. The
fact that he briefly stated his reasons for departing from the presumptive minimum does
not make his reasoning unclear.
42. Ms Coonan further argues that there was no basis to depart from s. 27(3C) of the Act and
says that so doing constituted an error in principle and resulted in a substantial departure
from the appropriate sentence. Moreover, she contends in this regard that the judge
failed to give sufficient weight to the provisions of s. 27(3D)(c)(i) and (ii) of the 1977 Act.
43. It is clear that the judge did have regard to the fact that the respondent had, as he
termed it “essentially really one conviction” for s. 15A. The criticism is that he failed to
give sufficient weight to this factor in taking his decision to depart from the presumptive
minimum of 10 years. Moreover, he made no reference to the public interest in
preventing drug trafficking in so deciding.
44. On behalf of the respondent, it was argued in the court below that there were factors
present, which would permit a derogation from the presumptive minimum. His plea of
guilty, admissions, co-operation, the underlying drug addiction and his personal
circumstances were highlighted.
45. The judge decided to impose a global sentence on the respondent. Whilst this court has
indicated on previous occasions, the optimum manner of sentence; a failure to do so does
not necessarily amount to an error in principle.
46. The issue for us is whether having decided to depart from the presumptive minimum
sentence, the judge was in error. The key issue in this determination is whether the fact
of the respondent’s previous conviction for the same type of offence should have caused
the sentencing judge not to depart from the presumptive minimum. Taken in isolation;
that is excluding the previous conviction, there were factors present which would enable a
judge to depart from the presumptive minimum. These factors were not limited to the
plea of guilty or the early admissions and co-operation but included the respondent’s drug
addiction and tragic circumstances. S. 27(3C) provides that a court may have regard any
matters it considers appropriate in deciding whether it would be unjust to impose the
presumptive minimum. It is apparent from the judge’s sentencing remarks, that he first
identified the aggravating factors, he considered the role played by the respondent and
then moved on to consider specifically, the respondent’s previous conviction. While the
judge did not identify features other than the plea of guilty and co-operation and did not
specifically mention the previous conviction in the context of departing from the
presumptive minimum, he had immediately prior to taking his decision not to impose the
presumptive minimum, referred to the previous conviction. We are satisfied in the
present case that he did not err in deciding in all the circumstances that it would be
unjust to impose the presumptive minimum sentence.
Page 10 ⇓
47. The respondent made immediate admissions, co-operated with the gardaí and continued
in that vein by pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity. The statute enables a court to
consider the circumstances relating to the offence or the offender in this assessment. The
fact of a previous conviction and the public interest are factors to which a court may have
regard in determining whether a sentence of not less than 10 years would be unjust. The
presence of a previous conviction does not, as long as s. 27(3F) is not engaged, in and of
itself mean that a court may not depart from the presumptive minimum. They simply are
factors which may be considered and weighed in the balance.
48. We are satisfied that whilst there was limited scope for the judge to conclude it would be
unjust to impose the presumptive minimum, we are satisfied that there was nonetheless
a basis to enable him to do so.
49. Having said that, in our view, when we consider the totality of the aggravating factors
and in particular the fact that this was a second offence for s. 15A within a period of one
year, together with the fact that the respondent was on bail for s. 15A offences, the pre-
mitigation or notional figure is a low figure. Moreover, in terms of mitigation, this was a
case where the respondent was caught red-handed and therefore less weight is to be
afforded to the plea of guilty. Furthermore, while his previous convictions (apart from the
s. 15A conviction) may not be said to be significant, nonetheless they detract from the
level of mitigation to be afforded to him.
Conclusion
50. In our view, the sentence imposed was a lenient sentence. The question is whether the
lenient sentence imposed is so unduly lenient, so as to require intervention by this Court.
On an assessment of the aggravating factors, we are satisfied that the judge erred in
identifying a pre-mitigation sentence of seven years. Whilst we have indicated that we do
not find that the judge erred in departing from the presumptive minimum sentence,
notwithstanding the existence of a previous conviction for a s. 15A offence; in identifying
a headline figure of seven years, the judge fell into error, particularly where this offence
was committed within a year of the previous conviction. S. 27(3B) makes specific
reference to the consideration of the existence of a previous s. 15A conviction in imposing
sentence for a s. 15A offence, but even if this were not the case, sentencing principles
permit that a similar previous conviction may aggravate an offence. The fact that this
offence was committed while the respondent was on bail further aggravates the offence.
We have concluded therefore, that the ultimate sentence imposed was a substantial
departure from the appropriate sentence in the particular circumstances.
51. Therefore, we propose to quash the sentence and in accordance with sentencing
principles we will re-sentence the respondent.
Re-Sentence
52. In sentencing the respondent for the offence, we have assessed the aggravating factors
already identified in order to determine the gravity of the offence. We have in this
assessment considered the respondent’s role in the offence, his drug addiction and debt
Page 11 ⇓
and the impact of those factors on his moral culpability and conclude that the appropriate
pre-mitigation sentence is one of ten years imprisonment.
53. We have had regard to the respondent’s efforts while in custody to rehabilitate himself
and have noted the content of the material furnished to us. In giving the appropriate
weight to the mitigating factors, we will reduce the notional sentence to one of seven
years imprisonment. We are cognisant of the disappointment factor for the respondent in
receiving a greater sentence and to take that into consideration, we will reduce the
sentence to one of six years. As the sentence is below ten years, we have considered
whether there are circumstances which allow for a departure from the presumptive
minimum and while we believe that there is limited scope, we are satisfied in the
circumstances that it would be unjust to impose the presumptive minimum. In the
knowledge that the sentence must be consecutive to the Mullingar sentence, being an
actual sentence of four years imprisonment, we have had regard to the totality principle
and in the circumstances consider the sentence of six years consecutive to the four year
sentence to be the appropriate sentence.
Result: Allow and Vary
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