CCA reserves judgement in sentence appeal by major drug dealer
The Court of Criminal Appeal has today reserved judgement in the case of a Dublin man appealing against his 18-year sentence for having €6.4m worth of heroin in his van.
Michael Byrne (aged 39) of Old Tower, Clondalkin, was jailed for 18 years by Judge Frank O’Donnell in April 2010 after he was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury of the possession of heroin for sale or supply.
Byrne, who was a self-employed tiler, had pleaded not guilty to possession of 32kg of the drug in the Culmore Road area of Palmerstown on January 15, 2008.
The court heard that Byrne was observed by a Garda survaillance operation unloading the heroin from his van and hiding it in a park.
During the trial Byrne gave evidence that when he went to pick up his van, which he had lent to a friend of his brothers, he saw drugs in the back and panicked.
He said that he was trying to get rid of the heroin when gardaí moved in and chased him.
Counsel for the applicant, Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, told the court that the sentence of 18 years had been imposed in error and that his client “ought not to be punished” for running his case.
He said Judge O’Donnell passed a number of comments during the sentence hearing which were “factually incorrect” or gave a greater emphasis than it was entitled to on particular points raised during the case.
Mr O’Higgins said the judge’s remark that Byrne had given a “Laurence Olivier” performance and had shed a “tear too far” were not factors the court could penalise him for and amounted merely to a loss in mitigation.
He said Judge O’Donnell was also incorrect in his assertion that “every issue” in the case was fought and contested, as the defence had not sought to challenge the market value of the drugs, nor issues such as the identification of Byrne or his arrest.
Mr Sean Gillane SC, for the DPP, said that Judge O’Donnell’s comments had been taken out of context and that the “main thrust” of his judgement asserted that the central issues in the case had been fought and contested.
He said that because the jury had “roundly rejected” Byrne’s defence that he did not have a proprietary interest in the drugs, the judge could not grant him some reduction in sentence on account of an explicable involvement in the drug trade, such as an addiction or a fear for his life.
Mr Gillane said Judge O’Donnell had not punished Byrne for contesting the case and submitted that the tariff was understandably “out of kilter” with the sentencing norm because of the particular circumstances of the case.
