Drug dealers in Northern Ireland should be imprisoned for longer than elsewhere in the UK, judges in Belfast's Court of Appeal have said. They described the maximum of 14 years as "unrealistic", saying new laws were necessary to curb the North's increasing drug trade. Introducing the sentencing guidelines, 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 three judges dismissed an appeal against a four-year jail sentence by David McIlwaine (25), of Salia Avenue, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, who pleaded guilty to possessing almost 10 kg of cannabis resin valued at £100,000.
Delivering the court's reserved judgment, Lord Justice MacDermott said: "This 10 kg 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."
RUC statistics showed cannabis seizures rose from 97 kg in 1994 to 455 kg last year, the judge said.
He added: "While 10 kg 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 possessing 500 kg of cannabis but the court felt in Northern Ireland possessing 200 kg 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 judges said that while sentences could not be calculated by weight or value, they believed possessing cannabis as low as 1 kg should result in at least five years' imprisonment, rising to about 10 years for 200 kg.
"Larger quantities would attract sentences up to the maximum, which could well be appropriate in many cases," they said.