Judge Michael White has spoken out about what he has called "the unfortunate, ill-informed comment and criticism" on the sentencing of drug dealers found in possession of drugs worth in excess of €13,000.
Judge White made his comment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when he imposed a total of 10 years in sentences on a 20-year-old man who appeared before him on drugs, robbery, trespass and theft offences.
Patrick Darcy, of Loughlinstown Park, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, stashed one kilogram of cocaine worth €105,000 and a sawn-off shotgun into a hedge surrounding Archbishop McQuaid primary school which backed on to his own house, robbed €525 from a Ladbrokes bookmakers office, and burgled a Glenageary house.
He admitted committing the offences between May 5th and November 8th, 2005.
When interviewed by gardaí he described himself and his accomplices who robbed €525 from a branch of Ladbrokes bookmakers, as the "world's dumbest criminals" and that he had spent his €60 share of the cash on drugs.
Darcy admitted he jumped over the Ladbrokes counter and took the €525 from the till but said he wouldn't have had the "bottle" to do the robbery "if I had not been stoned out of my head".
Judge White said that no account was often taken of the "complexities courts faced" when dealing with cases in which legislation provided for "a mandatory minimum sentence" of 10 years.
He said that Darcy's situation illustrated the problems faced by sentencing judges when deciding if a defendant's personal circumstances allowed for a deviation from the mandatory sentence.
"The reality of the individual also has to be dealt with and in this case he was a chronic drug addict who had been failed by society, having received no education from the age of 13 years old," Judge White said.
The judge said he took into account what he referred to as "serious aggravating factors in the case" - that Darcy had a previous conviction for drug dealing and was actively engaged in the sale and supply of drugs.
He sentenced him to 10 years for possession of the cocaine for sale or supply but said that the sentence should be reviewed in five years and ordered an updated psychological and probation report for that date.
He also jailed Darcy for three years for the Ladbrokes robbery and the Glenageary house burglary and theft.
Coleman Fitzgerald SC, defending, told Judge White that Darcy was expelled from Archbishop McQuaid school at an early age and was soon after diagnosed as having a behavioural disorder.
He said his client had been "preyed upon by more clever and ruthless people".