Cannabis grow-house 'manager' bid to have jail term cut

A cannabis grow-house “manager” who was caught “red-handed” alongside the teenage “gardener”  has lost his bid to have his jail term reduced. 

Danius Gastilavicius (44), of no fixed abode, was jailed for five years, with the last year suspended, after pleading guilty to cultivating cannabis plants, at an address in Ballymote, Co Sligo, on March 26, 2020. 

His teenage co-accused, described in court as the “gardener” and who was working at the grow-house to pay off a debt in his native Lithuania, was jailed for three years with the last 20 months suspended by Judge Francis Comerford at Sligo Circuit Criminal Court in December 2020. 

Gastilavicius, who is also a Lithuanian national, later appealed the severity of his sentence, on the grounds that there was a lack of parity between the custodial terms handed down by Judge Comerford.  

Patrick Jackson BL, for Gastilavicius told the Court of Appeal on Friday, February 11 that his client was given a 48-month sentence for his role in the grow house operation, while his co-accused received only 16 months. 

Given that both men were caught “red-handed” by gardai at the premises, counsel said the two sentences were “simply disproportionate”. 

Mr Jackson added that fewer than 20 cannabis plants with an estimated value of €15,000 were seized by gardai, and therefore the headline sentence of seven years identified by the judge had been excessive. 

He did concede, however, that his client had been higher up the chain of command in the grow-house operation than his co-accused. 

But counsel also noted: “Perhaps someone higher up the chain would have had the sense not to attend the scene at all.  We simply don’t know his level, because he didn’t give an account to gardai.”  

Leo Mulrooney BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court the grow-house had been a sophisticated operation and the trial judge correctly found that Gastilavicius’ role was as an “organiser on the ground”.  

 Mr Mulrooney added that it was “often the case that different sentences will be imposed on two people who commit the same offences”. 

The co-accused in this case, he said, had a number of factors “on his side” such as his youth and a lack of previous convictions, whereas the older appellant had a “significant number” of previous offences.  

The co-accused had only agreed to work in the grow-house to pay off a debt, Mr Mulrooney added. 

“[The co-accused] was not an indentured slave, he was there of his own free will, but it was commented by the trial judge that he would have found it difficult to leave,” counsel added.  

Whereas Gastilavicius, Mr Mulrooney continued, had a “managerial role” in the grow house operation and that was the “chief aggravating factor” in his sentencing.  

Dismissing the appeal, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards, presiding, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, said Judge Comerford had “carefully assessed” the culpability of each offender and had not erred when he sentenced the appellant.