Alan Fraser v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2015] HCJAC 27

Note of appeal against sentence:- The appellant was convicted of producing cannabis plants, and being concerned in their supply contrary to sections 4(2) and 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The appellant had previously been convicted of the production and supply of cannabis for which he was serving 27 months imprisonment. In relation to his case the sheriff sentenced the appellant to 42 months imprisonment to run consecutively to the other sentence imposed. The appellant appealed against the sentence imposed. It was submitted on the appellant’s behalf that the appellant has worked full-time as a specialist plant hire technician with his own company which was taken over as a result of which the appellant became redundant. The appellant’s financial difficulties lead him, through known acquaintances involved in the drug scene, to become involved in the cultivation and production of cannabis. Here the court allowed the appeal and substituted the 42 month period of imprisonment with a period of 27 months. The court observed that the sentencing sheriff had failed to give adequate weight to the mitigating circumstances and also that the sheriff had failed to indicate what the starting point would have been as he had stated that the sentence was adjusted for the cumulative effect of being a consecutive sentence.