JUDGES WAGE DRUGS WAR

Longer Jail Terms Are Suggested

DRUG dealers in Northern Ireland should be locked up for longer than in the
rest of the United Kingdom, the province's top judges have declared. They
described the present maximum of 14 years as "unrealistic" and said new
laws were necessary to curb the increasing drug trade in the province.

Laying down new sentencing guidelines in the Court of Appeal, the judges
said: "We would express the hope that the Government in this jurisdiction
will review the limit as a positive effort to prevent Northern Ireland
becoming more deeply involved in the evil drug trade." The court dismissed
an appeal against a four-year jail sentence by David McIlwaine (25), of
Salia Avenue, Carrickfergus, who had pleaded guilty to possessing almost
10kg of cannabis resin with a street value of £100,000.

Delivering the court's reserved judgment, Lord Justice MacDermott said:
"This 10kg seizure indicates there is a growing amount of cannabis resin in
circulation in this jurisdiction and that the use of cannabis is on the
increase.

"That is a most regrettable situation and the courts must adjust their
levels of sentencing upwards in an attempt to deter such activity." He
quoted RUC statistics showing that seizures of cannabis rose from 97kg in
1994 to 455kg last year.

Lord Justice MacDermott said: "While 10kg may be a common seizure in
England, it can in Northern Ireland represent the first flowering of a
developing drugs market which requires a forceful judicial response." He
said the law had not been changed since 1971 and a well-known guideline
case for sentencing was no longer appropriate.

The judge said the practice in England was to impose a 10-year sentence for
possession of 500kg of cannabis but the court felt that in Northern
Ireland, the possession of 200kg should merit such a sentence.

"We take this view because we are satisfied that it is essential that we
try to curb the increasing traffic in this drug in this jurisdiction," he
said.

The three appeal judges said that while sentences could not be calculated
simply by weight or value, they felt possession of cannabis as low as 1kg
should result in at least five years imprisonment, rising to about 10 years
for 200kg.

"Larger quantities would attract sentences up to the maximum which could
well be appropriate in many cases," they said.