A Laois man caught with close to €400,000 of cannabis will serve 2½ years in prison, after the Court of Appeal upheld the State’s argument that his original fully suspended sentence imposed was unduly lenient.
Jason Tuthill (51) lowered his head and cried as Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy today quashed his original sentence of three years fully suspended and resentenced him to five years with the final 2½ years suspended.
Ms Justice Kennedy said that while there were mitigating factors in the case, including that Tuthill and his family had been threatened after he failed to pay back a debt, the court did not accept this justified the sentencing judge reducing the headline sentence of eight years to three years before fully suspending it.
Tuthill, of Barrowhouse, Co Laois, was convicted under section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act after pleading guilty to having 17kg of cannabis and 3kg of cannabis herb at AutoChem, Unit 9, Block F, Athy Business Campus on April 27th, 2023.
READ MORE
He was sentenced at Naas Courthouse by Judge Terrence O’Sullivan in May last year.
In launching an appeal against this sentence, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Daniel Boland, said there was nothing exceptional about the mitigating factors in this case.
While the respondent had no previous convictions, Mr Boland said that, nevertheless, the reduction from the headline sentence of eight to three years seemed “enormous”.
Senior counsel for Tuthill, Damien Colgan, said the sentencing judge had decided the matter based on the circumstances of Tuthill’s own life. Counsel said that the respondent previously had a company before he fell on hard times during Covid, and then “a person came with an offer”.
Responding, Ms Justice Kennedy said the case stemmed from Tuthill’s actions, which featured “a massive error of judgment on his part”.
Mr Colgan said serious threats were made against Tuthill, so there was room for the sentencing judge to deviate from the mandatory minimum sentence. Counsel said Tuthill fully co-operated and made full admissions to the gardaí. He said the person who made threats against Tuthill was aware of his workplace and his wife’s workplace, so he was terrified.
Mr Colgan said that while Tuthill knew a parcel was coming containing an illegal substance, he did not the volume of drugs.
In delivering the court’s judgment, Ms Justice Kennedy said that it was clear that the value of the drugs was considerable, while the evidence placed Tuthill at the very low level of culpability.
She found the reduction from the headline sentence of eight years to three to be excessive.
Ruling it was an error in principle for the sentencing judge to fully suspend the sentence due to a desirability to allow Tuthill to continue in the community, Ms Justice Kennedy said the court would quash the sentence and resentence him.
