DPP v Anthony Kelly

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Fennelly J.
• Judgment Date: 25 July 2008
• Neutral Citation: [2008] IECCA 103
• Date: 25 July 2008
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal
• Docket Number: [C.C.C. No. 86 of 2006]

DPP v Kelly

Application for leave to appeal against sentence

The People at the Suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions

V

John Paul Kelly

Applicant

[2008] IECCA 103

234/07

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL

CRIMINAL LAW

Sentence

Severity - Drugs offences - Plea of guilty - Stage of proceedings when plea offered - Whether accused should be given credit for guilty plea - Whether trial judge erred in depriving accused of benefit of plea of guilty - Criminal Justice Act 1999 (No 10), s 29 - Application for leave to appeal refused (234/2007 - CCA - 25/7/2008) [2008] IECCA 103

People (DPP) v Kelly

MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1977 S15A

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1999 S29

1 25th day of July 2008 by Fennelly J.

2 This is an application for leave to appeal against severity of a sentence of 7 years imprisonment imposed by Her Honour Judge Delahunt in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The applicant pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drugs, diamorphine or heroin for supply. It is not as. 15A case because the value of the actual drugs found in his actual possession were less than €13, 000. It followed from a search warrant issued to the Garda Síochána which was executed on 16 ^th December, 2005 at the applicant's flat at Old Distillery Building in Beresford Street. There was a Garda surveillance operation put on the flat and the Gardai found one person leaving the flat who had 10 packets of heroin on him which were subsequently valued at €3, 200. He also had the key of the flat on him, that other person, and the Gardai then, in execution of the warrant and using the key, went into the flat where the applicant was found lying on a bed speaking on his mobile and when he saw the Gardai he shouted out "Its the Guards, it's the Guards". A search of the flat then revealed a number of incriminating items €10, 695 in cash, which at a later stage the applicant accepted, was the proceeds of drug dealing, five knotted bags of brown paper powder containing heroin to the value of €1, 300, a box of clear plastic bags, some cut off plastic bags, brown wrapping paper, blue carbon paper, which is used to disguise the presence of drugs on importation, to disguise them from x-ray machines, a weighing scales found on analysis to have traces of heroin on it, a mobile phone which had text messages showing requests for drugs. There was a series of Garda...