75% of drug jail terms not minimum

Three-quarters of offenders convicted of drugs crimes which carry a minimum 10- year prison term are getting sentences shorter than that, analysis of court decisions shows.

Just 23% of those found guilty of possession, sale or supply or drugs valued at more than €13,000 got 10 or more years behind bars in the analysis of Court of Criminal Appeal decisions from 2009-2012.

That’s despite the intention when the minimum sentence was introduced in 1999 that it would be mandatory unless “exceptional and specific circumstances” existed.