Dealer’s sentence cut in ‘interests of justice’

A man hit with a statutory “double whammy”, according to his lawyers, has had his 17-year prison term reduced to 14 by the Court of Appeal “in the interests of justice”.

Martin McBride, aged 47, of Gimont Avenue, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, had pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to possessing €97,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply in the city in May 2011. While on bail and after he had signed a guilty plea for the incident, he was caught with €40,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply in Wexford on November 16, 2011.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin at Cork Circuit Criminal Court sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on November 29, 2011.