Two men who were found with £3 million-worth of cannabis in flower pots and who received suspended sentences in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court have been given custodial sentences by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
In January Maurice O'Riordan (24), Pineview Road, Tallaght, Co Dublin, and Christopher Burke (28), Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to possession of the cannabis resin with intent to supply on November 13th, 1997. The Circuit Court imposed a seven-year sentence on O'Riordan and a four-year sentence on Burke and suspended both terms.
The DPP appealed the decision on the grounds the sentences were unduly lenient. The Court of Criminal Appeal agreed and decided that O'Riordan should serve a four-year sentence and that Burke should serve two years.