The Court of Criminal Appeal has increased from five to seven years the sentence imposed on a man who was found with an electronic weighing scales and heroin valued at €260,000.
The court upheld the DPP's appeal that the sentence imposed in April 2003 by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Paul Doyle (25), St Martin's Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin was unduly lenient.
The court heard yesterday that Doyle had been seen by gardaí wearing rubber gloves and dropping a package containing 823 grams of heroin with a value of €260,000. He also had €7,000 in his possession.
Had Mr Doyle not been discovered, the heroin involved would have brought untold human misery, Mr Padraig Dwyer, for the DPP, argued. Doyle was profiteering on a large scale from the drugs and gardaí had seen him drop from his hand the package containing the drug.
Mr Dwyer said Doyle was not a vulnerable individual, was operating with the aim of personal profit and was not being compelled to do what he was doing. He had pleaded guilty in the Circuit Criminal Court and had been sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with one year suspended.
Mr Martin Giblin SC, for Doyle, argued the five-year sentence was correct in that it took into account all the factors, including the guilty plea by his client. Doyle had also had a dreadful background. The fact he was selected by the Samaritans to become involved in a programme to prevent suicide in prison was also a mitigating factor.
Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, and sitting with Miss Justice Laffoy and Mr Justice Kelly, said the court had no doubt the sentence was too lenient in a case involving heroin valued at €250,000 and where Doyle had given little co-operation.