A Dublin man serving 13 years for having heroin for sale or supply had his sentence reduced to eight years at the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday. The court heard Patrick Burke (27) was a heroin addict at the time of his arrest, but was now drug free.
Burke, of Gloucester Place, Dublin, was jailed for 13 years in March 1998 on two counts of having heroin for sale or supply.
Mr Luigi Rea, for Burke, said the sentence was excessive considering the value of the drugs involved. Burke was a 25-year-old heroin abuser at the time of the offences and had no previous drugs convictions, counsel said.
Mr Justice Lynch announced the court's decision to reduce the total sentence to eight years, bearing in mind that these were Burke's first drugs convictions.
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