Legal history was made in Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday when a drugs dealer, Edward Judd Scanlon, received a 22-year prison term - the longest sentence ever imposed in this State for a drugs offence. By any standard, the sentence does appear severe - the notorious Dublin criminal, Tony Felloni, received a 20-year term. But few fair-minded citizens would disagree with the words of the trial judge in the Scanlon case: sentencing in such cases must reflect society's anger with those who traffic in drugs. On one level, the charges against Scanlon would not appear to justify the draconian sentence imposed by the court. He was charged with possession, with intent to supply, of cocaine and ecstacy with an estimated street value of about £35,000. But the trial judge, in sentencing, was right to reflect on Scanlon's wider importance in the drugs business and his criminal record. From evidence given by local drugs squad officers, it is clear that Scanlon was "in the top echelon" of the criminal fraternity in Cork, with criminal links across the State. Evidence was given of an extended criminal career in which he was charged with drugs offences in Britain and the US. The court was also told of how Scanlon, who earned the sobriquet `Mr Armani' because of his extravagant lifestyle, felt himself to be beyond the arm of the law.
While the severity of the sentence is likely to generate controversy, it is easy to forget how in the past the judiciary was criticised for its failure to appreciate the depth of the drugs crisis. At the height of the heroin crisis in the 1980s there were several cases where the leading drugs traffickers in the State were treated by the courts in what many regarded as an excessively lenient way. For a decade and more, the leading criminal figures in this State were able to cock a snook at the criminal justice system, secure in the knowledge that the Garda often lacked the powers they required - and that the courts would impose relatively light sentences. Great progress has been made since those dark days. The Criminal Assets Bureau has been strikingly effective in sequestering the proceeds of the leading drug-dealing gangs. At street level the Garda, in conjunction with the local communities, has achieved significant progress. A sea-change has also been evident in the attitude of the judiciary towards the drugs problem; the Scanlon sentence may be the most severe for drug trafficking but there has been no shortage of similar cases where very lengthy terms were imposed. Much remains to be done in addressing the drugs problem in this State and punitive sentencing alone will not, of course, resolve it. It will require a multistrand approach incorporating such areas as education, economic and social support for deprived communities and comprehensive treatment facilities for addicts. But this programme of work must be supported by the courts; the days when drug dealers could be treated with kid gloves are gone. Today, the judiciary, in the manner of Judge Murphy in Cork yesterday, must reflect society's deep anguish about the drugs problem.