The Court of Appeal has said a father-of-five "made a commercial decision" to store €700,000 worth of drugs and that the court was "unimpressed" with his arguments over the severity of his seven-year sentence.
Darren King (35) of Cole Park Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, was imprisoned after he pleaded guilty to having cocaine for sale or supply at locations on Ballyfermot Road, Cole Park Road and at his home on April 23, 2019.
He later appealed the severity of the sentence handed down by Judge Pauline Codd at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Seamus Clarke SC, for King, told the Court of Appeal on Thursday that “by his own admission” his client had been involved in “the storing of a large amount of cannabis and cocaine” in a vehicle parked outside his home.
“But he was not one of these people who commonly comes before the court described as a courier,” he added.
Acknowledging that the judge had already discounted his client’s sentence by five years, from a headline term of 12 years, Mr Clarke said there were other mitigating factors which would have allowed the judge to go the “extra mile” and reduce it even further.
Counsel said his client was a former bus driver who was off sick with a back injury at the time of the offending and who was at a “moderate risk” of reoffending.
A co-accused of King’s, Mr Clarke added, had been given a wholly suspended sentence.
Eoghan Cole BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said there had been no error in principle in sentence handed down by Judge Codd.
The offending, Mr Cole said, “involved the distribution of a large amount of drugs for sale or for profit”.
The sentence imposed had contained a “significant deterrent element” and “was well within bounds”, he added.
'Not impressed'
Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice John Edwards, sitting with Mr Justice George Birmingham, presiding, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, said the court agreed with the sentencing judge’s assessment that the appellant had been “actively storing and distributing drugs”.
“We are not impressed by the appellant’s arguments,” Mr Justice Edwards said, adding that King had made a “commercial” decision to store the drugs to help pay off his debts.
At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Val Russell told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that King's partner's home in Cherry Orchard in Dublin was under surveillance when gardaí observed Cole driving from there to his own home and later meeting two men with a bag containing over €100,000 worth of cannabis.
Follow-up searches of a vehicle parked at King's home found cannabis with an estimated street value of nearly €600,000 and cocaine, valued at €15,000. During a follow-up search of King's home, £6,900 Sterling and €800 in cash was also found along with a small quantity of cannabis.
King was interviewed three times and ultimately admitted to “possessing the drugs for the purpose of sale or supply”.
Det Gda Russell said a small amount of cannabis was found on King's person during interview, and he told gardaí that he was due to “meet a fella with a sample to let him see what it is like”.
He refused to answer some questions put to him by gardaí because he said he was concerned for his own safety, but he accepted that he owned the money. He has a previous conviction for robbery.
The court heard King told gardaí that he started to use cocaine after he received a serious injury to his back. He got into debt and got involved to pay off his debt.
He further accepted that King was out on sick leave at the time of his arrest and now has arrears on his mortgage.
