A father-of-two who took part in a €4m cannabis operation has had his prison sentence increased on appeal.
Stephen Sarsfield of New Street Gardens, Dublin 8 was caught red-handed moving boxes of cannabis from a large lorry in a Dublin housing estate.
After receiving a tip-off on the morning of July 17th 2017, Gardaí set up a surveillance operation at an address in Ballyfermot.
A large lorry was parked outside and Stephen Sarsfield was seen moving flat pack boxes from the back of it into a garage.
Just over €4.1m worth of cannabis and heroin was seized and Sarsfield was arrested.
It was accepted that he was a small cog in a bigger machine, but Gardaí said he was an “important cog” nonetheless.
The sentencing judge also noted the “important function” he performed in the operation before jailing him for seven years.
The DPP appealed what she considered to be the undue leniency of that sentence and the Court of Appeal today agreed that it did amount to a substantial departure from sentences handed down for large-scale drug operations.
Sarsfield’s family burst into tears upon hearing that his sentence had increased by three years.
Reporting from Frank Greaney
