DPP v McGrath

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Mr. Justice McCarthy
• Judgment Date: 25 January 2019
• Neutral Citation: [2019] IECA 67
• Docket Number: Record Number: 148/2018
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ireland)
• Date: 25 January 2019

[2019] IECA 67

THE COURT OF APPEAL

McCarthy J.

Birmingham P.

Edwards J.

McCarthy J.

Record Number: 148/2018

BETWEEN/

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

RESPONDENT

- AND –

ANTONIA MCGRATH

APPELLANT

Sentencing – Possession of cannabis – Severity of sentence – Appellant seeking to appeal against sentence – Whether sentence was unduly severe

Facts: The appellant, Ms McGrath, appealed to the Court of Appeal against the severity of a sentence of three and half years’ imprisonment imposed at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on an early plea of guilty to an offence of possession of cannabis and cannabis resin to the value of approximately €450.000 contrary to the s. 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Acts. The appellant’s grounds of appeal were that: (a) the sentence imposed was excessive and or disproportionate in all of the circumstances of the case; (b) the sentence imposed failed to take adequate account of the mitigating factors and the personal circumstances of the appellant; (c) the sentence...