Judge erred in giving drug dealer 30 years

A Cork judge erred in sentencing an Englishman to 30 years imprisonment for his role in the biggest drugs seizure in the history of the State, the Court of Criminal Appeal has found.

Perry Wharrie, aged 56, from Loughton, in Essex was given what his lawyers described as the “highest sentence in the history of the State” for his role in the record €440m drugs haul which went awry at Dunlough Bay on the Mizen Peninsula, West Cork on July 2, 2007.

Wharrie, who had pleaded not guilty to possession of the drugs for sale or supply, was unanimously found guilty by a Cork Circuit Criminal Court jury and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin on July 23, 2008.