A man who was caught with over €1 million in cocaine in a "sophisticated" operation where the drugs were hidden in a modified compartment in his van has had his two-year jail sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal.
Andrew Lawlor (38) was originally jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possessing €1.2 million of the drug that was hidden in his van and was uncovered after a Garda surveillance operation in 2020.
At Trim Circuit Court in February, Judge Elva Duffy sentenced Lawlor to four-and-a-half years in prison, with the final two-and-a-half years suspended in mitigation, considering his guilty plea, personal circumstances and efforts at rehabilitation for a drug and alcohol addiction.
Lawlor, of The Paddocks Grove, Adamstown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on July 11th, 2020, at the Ashbourne Business Centre, Ballybin Road, Co Meath.
The court heard the drugs had been brought by truck from the UK through Northern Ireland and then to Ashbourne, where they were transferred to the defendant's van.
Gardaí who had mounted a surveillance operation moved in after the handover and arrested both drivers. The truck driver was later jailed for 18 months.
The court heard Lawlor had developed a cocaine addiction after he began experimenting with drugs when he was a teenager and had been under financial strain at the time because of the Covid lockdown. The court heard he is now drug free and training to qualify as a drug counsellor.
Undue leniency
At the Court of Appeal on Monday, Carl Hanahoe BL, for the State, successfully appealed the sentence on grounds of undue leniency.
Mr Hanahoe submitted that the headline sentence of six and a half years set by the trial judge was too low, considering the value of the drugs, which weighed 17kg, and the "sophistication of their concealment".
The court was told that the drugs were found in a compartment in a hydraulic press bolted to the floor of the Volkswagen Caddy.
"The value of the drugs is one of the core elements of where on the spectrum the offence lies and in nominating the headline," Mr Hanahoe said.
Mr Hanahoe suggested a 10-year headline sentence as an appropriate one, in line with the "presumptive mandatory minimum sentence" for similar drug offences.
Mr Hanahoe said Lawlor had also benefited from an "excessive" reduction in mitigation and described the headline sentence nominated as a starting point as being "out of kilter and insufficient".
Roderick O'Hanlon SC, for Lawlor, said the value of the drugs was "obviously of considerable importance, but it is not determinative in of itself" when it came to applying the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence.
Mr O'Hanlon said his client had entered an early guilty plea and added that, after his arrest and search, Lawlor had, upon request, returned voluntarily to the Garda station, where he wrote out a statement admitting he had been in possession of the drugs later found in the van.
Appeal Court judge Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said there was a "sophisticated concealment" involved in the operation, and that a "level of trust" had to have been put in Lawlor by others.
'Sophisticated concealment'
Mr Justice John Edwards noted that when calculating a headline sentence, the sentencing judge had failed to take into account the potential harm to society, not just any actual harm.
Mr O'Hanlon said the trial judge recognised the value of the drugs and the level of offending committed "on more than one occasion" but that there was still a "discretionary" element to sentencing for the trial judge.
Mr O'Hanlon said his client had previous convictions for road traffic offences but that they were "not relevant" to the drugs offence.
Because of Covid restrictions in place at the time, gardaí released Lawlor for a time but when they discovered the drugs in the van, he agreed to return to the station and made out a written statement, Mr O'Hanlon said.
Mr O'Hanlon said that, in his statement, Lawlor said that he was "shocked" when the value of the drugs was told to him.
I am in fear for my life and for my family.
"I accept responsibility for having the drugs in my van, but I did not know the type. I was shocked.
"I was doing this for €1,000 and some cocaine – I relapsed. I hope to get back to treatment. I am genuinely sorry. I will regret it for the rest of my life. I am in fear for my life and for my family," Mr O'Hanlon said his client told gardaí.
Open prison
Mr O'Hanlon said the father of two was in Loughan House open prison, was released one day a week for treatment, and was allowed to visit his parents on the weekends.
"The reports reflect a prisoner who is doing extremely well," counsel said.
Mr O'Hanlon agreed with Ms Justice Kennedy he was submitting that while the sentence "may seem lenient, it is not too lenient".
In delivering the Court of Appeal's judgment, Ms Justice Kennedy noted Lawlor's personal difficulties, his efforts to overcome them and that he was a father of two with an offer of work upon his release.
Ms Justice Kennedy said the operation would have taken "time and planning" regarding the concealment of drugs that were "a potential harm to society".
"The quantity and value are critical; not determinative but critical," the judge said.
In quashing the original sentence, Ms Justice Kennedy said the headline sentence of six-and-a-half years had been unduly lenient and that the court would re-sentence Lawlor.
Ms Justice Kennedy identified 10 years as a headline sentence before reducing it to seven-and-a-half years in mitigation.
Ms Justice Kennedy then suspended the final three-and-a-half years of the sentence to encourage Lawlor's rehabilitation.
In re-sentencing Lawlor to four years in jail, Ms Kennedy said drugs were a "scourge in our society and there is such a vast quantity of drugs on our streets it cannot be ignored".
