Trafficker’s jail time cut
A CONVICTED White Rock drug trafficker has impressed the president of the Appeals Court with his rehabilitative efforts and successfully overturned a 10-year jail term.
Ian Berry was at the centre of a crystal meth ring supplying 409.6 grams of ice, worth about $320,000 on the street, as well as MDMA and LSD to other drug dealers and used violence to collect any drug debts.
The father-of-two pleaded guilty in the Cairns Supreme Court in July this year to trafficking and possessing dangerous drugs between January 2015 and March 2016.
Justice John Byrne jailed Berry, then 26, for 10 years and two months, which has been reduced to nine years with parole eligibility after serving four.
Any sentences that are 10 years or more result in an automatic serious violent offender declaration, which means he would have had to serve at least 80 per cent before he could apply for parole.
Berry appealed on the grounds that it was manifestly excessive and that Justice Byrne failed to give adequate reasons for the sentence.
The court was told that Berry had been addicted to ice at the time, but had made some rehabilitative efforts, with drug screenings indicating some success.
In a recent judgment President of the Appeals Court Justice Walter Sofronoff said not enough weight had been placed on the importance of Berry’s age and rehabilitation efforts during submissions to Justice Byrne.
“Youthful offenders who plead guilty and who have demonstrated sincere efforts towards rehabilitation and, at least, early success at fighting addiction have received significantly lesser terms of actual imprisonment than their older and less pliable colleagues in this industry,” Justice Sofronoff said.
“In my opinion, because of his youth, the applicant’s efforts are very important.
“In my respectful opinion the gravity of the applicant’s offending, that is to say his trafficking in various drugs, warrants a sentence of nine years.
“His promising beginning in sorting out his life, and therefore his children’s lives as well, warrants there being an opportunity for him to apply for parole after four years.”
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