Dooley, R v

Importing heroin into a prison for onward circulation is a very serious offence. The seriousness is increased where the offender obtains access by purporting to attend for legal purposes, even if prison searches were expected. A guilty plea may receive reduced credit where the offender advances, but abandons, a factual basis intended to reduce sentence. On the facts, a sentence of five years’ imprisonment was neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle.

The applicant pleaded guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to possessing heroin and cannabis resin with intent to supply. She had brought the drugs into a prison while claiming to attend a legal visit, although she had no authority to act for the purported client.

She received five years’ imprisonment for the heroin offence and a concurrent 18-month term for the cannabis offence. She renewed her application for leave to appeal against sentence, contending that she should have received full credit for her plea and that five years was excessive.

1. The renewed application for leave to appeal against sentence was refused. The five-year sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply was neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle.
2. The court treated the introduction of Class A drugs into prison as exceptionally serious because such drugs perpetuate the harm caused by addiction and may be circulated within the prison. The heroin was internally concealed and was not for the applicant’s own use.
3. The applicant’s conduct was further aggravated by her purported legal purpose for the visit. Although she remained liable to be searched, she had obtained entry on a false basis.
4. The sentencing judge was entitled to temper credit for the guilty plea. The applicant had initially proposed a trial of issue on the basis that she believed the heroin was cannabis, although she did not persist with that course.
5. The court recognised the personal tragedy for a 24-year-old offender of previous good character, including the loss of her career, but those matters did not render the sentence excessive.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): renewed application for leave to appeal against sentence refused.
• Crown Court at Manchester Minshull Street: on 4 May 2007, the applicant was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for possession of heroin with intent to supply, with 18 months’ imprisonment concurrently for possession of cannabis resin with intent to supply.