A lorry driver who admitted importing £150,000 of heroin had his 6-1/2-year sentence reduced by a year at the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.
The driver had disclosed he was paid £2,000 for importing the drug. He was arrested by gardai while he sat in his truck in a Dublin ferry terminal.
William Hegarty (45), of Kells Road, Crumlin, Dublin, pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Court in October 1997. The appeal court was told yesterday he has completed 42 months of his 78-month sentence and was due to be released in August 2002.
Reducing the sentence, Mr Justice Geoghegan, sitting with Ms Justice Carroll and Mr Justice Butler, said the offence appeared to be a one-off committed for greed or a bit of money. There was no evidence Hegarty was engaged in the trafficking or transporting of drugs.
The court refused to reduce a 71/2-year sentence imposed on a South African national caught with £400,000 of cocaine. Johannes Coutzee (39), from Johannesburg, pleaded guilty to the importation of the drug at Dublin Airport on November 7th, 1999.
Rejecting his appeal, Mr Justice Geoghegan said he had already received a 25 per cent "discount" in the Circuit Court.