THE COURT of Criminal Appeal has halved a seven-year prison sentence imposed on a South African “drug mule” who was caught with almost €80,000 worth of cannabis in her suitcase at Dublin airport.
Sasha Lee Whitehead (34), a legal secretary and divorced mother of three, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last March to having drugs worth €79,536 for sale or supply at Dublin airport on June 11th, 2007. She was sentenced to seven years by Judge Desmond Hogan.
Appealing against the severity of that sentence yesterday, Isobel Kennedy SC, for Whitehead, said the sentencing judge had failed to take into account her client’s “tragic and difficult” background, remorse and “high vulnerability”.
Opposing the appeal, counsel for the DPP said the sentence was typical of those imposed on persons who carried drugs into the State. The three-judge court, with Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Ms Justice Maureen Clark, said it would reduce the sentence to 3½ years.
While the court could not condone Whitehead’s action, Mr Justice Kearns said a sympathetic view was required.
The court noted Whitehead got involved in the venture because of financial difficulties in trying to provide for her three children and care for her sick mother.
Whitehead, from Johannesburg, had come to Ireland via Madrid, when she was stopped by Custom and Excise officers. She said she had been paid €2,000 to carry “something” in her suitcase and did not know it was cannabis.