Man jailed for human trafficking has sentence increased on appeal

A Northern Ireland man convicted of human trafficking will serve a longer sentence after the Court of Appeal ruled the seven-year term was unduly lenient.

Oliver James MacCormack, 72, of the Lisburn area, was given seven years in April, with half in custody and half on licence. He had already spent almost three years in jail and faced release on licence by November.

MacCormack was convicted on 40 counts across dates spanning 2015 to 2022, including multiple counts of human trafficking, supplying Class A drugs, controlling prostitution for gain, intimidation and perverting the course of justice. There were nine victims across the Greater Belfast area, some were 17 when the offences were committed. The court heard how MacCormack targeted victims by supplying illegal drugs, making them dependent on him, and ingratiated himself into their lives to groom them into sex work and prostitution. He was one of four men who preyed on vulnerable women who were addicted to drugs; Kenneth David Harvey, 74; Derek Brown, 71; and 77-year-old Robert Albert Rogers had already been sentenced.

The Public Prosecution Service challenged the original sentence, arguing it failed to fully reflect the high culpability, aggravating features and the need for deterrence. Charles MacCreanor KC, barrister for the PPS, said: "Ultimately he used them like commodities to be sold in order to be of financial benefit. It was the most serious case seen in Northern Ireland to date." Three appeal judges backed the PPS case and formally declared the sentence unduly lenient. Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stated: "This was a case involving a suite of offending against vulnerable women which requires appropriate punishment to deter this type of behaviour in our community and to soundly rebut the attitude of the defendant. Such attitudes have no place in our society."

As a result, MacCormack will serve nine years in total, split equally between custody and licence, meaning four years and six months in custody and four years and six months on licence.

MacCormack’s case was described by prosecutors as among the most serious in Northern Ireland in recent years. He was identified as the principal offender among a group that exploited women who were dependent on drugs, using grooming and coercion to push them into sex work and prostitution for financial gain. Harvey and Brown have already been jailed, and Rogers was previously sentenced in connection with the same offences.

The ruling underscores the Court of Appeal’s insistence on deterring such coercive abuse of vulnerable individuals and sending a clear signal that sentencing must reflect the level of harm and exploitation involved, rather than treating such crimes as merely opportunistic. The decision also highlights ongoing scrutiny of how authorities punish trafficking networks that operate through drug dependency and coercive control.