R v Shaw [2019] NSWDC 817

R v Shaw [2019] NSWDC 817

The offender's three principal offences were objectively in the mid-range and serious, aggravated by offending while on bail and by financial gain, and imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty. However, disputed facts were excluded under De Simoni, the offender's moral culpability was reduced by childhood-onset drug addiction and related anxiety, he pleaded guilty, showed remorse, had guarded rehabilitation prospects, and special circumstances were established. Those factors justified departure from the 10-year standard non-parole periods and the imposition of an aggregate sentence of 6 years with a 4-year non-parole period.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
25 September 2019
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sentencing / Sentence Following Guilty Pleas
Outcome
Offender convicted of three offences and sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 6 years with a non-parole period of 4 years.
Legal Topics
['aggregate Sentence' 'drug Supply' 'proceeds of Crime' 'form 1 Offences' 'standard Non Parole Period' 'special Circumstances' 'guilty Plea Discount' 'objective Seriousness' 'moral Culpability' 'drug Addiction']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing'] ['aggregate Sentence' 'drug Supply' 'proceeds of Crime' 'form 1 Offences' 'standard Non Parole Period' 'special Circumstances' 'guilty Plea Discount' 'objective Seriousness' 'moral Culpability' 'drug Addiction']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Sentencing / Sentence Following Guilty Pleas

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether disputed facts should be excluded to avoid punishing the offender for uncharged offending.' 'The objective seriousness of the three principal offences and the effect of Form 1 offences.' 'Whether the standard non-parole periods for the commercial supply offences should be applied or departed from.' "Whether the offender's early drug addiction, background, remorse and rehabilitation prospects reduced moral culpability." 'Whether special circumstances justified altering the statutory ratio between non-parole and parole periods.' 'Whether no sentence other than imprisonment was appropriate.']

Ratio Decidendi

The offender's three principal offences were objectively in the mid-range and serious, aggravated by offending while on bail and by financial gain, and imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty. However, disputed facts were excluded under De Simoni, the offender's moral culpability was reduced by childhood-onset drug addiction and related anxiety, he pleaded guilty, showed remorse, had guarded rehabilitation prospects, and special circumstances were established. Those factors justified departure from the 10-year standard non-parole periods and the imposition of an aggregate sentence of 6 years with a 4-year non-parole period.

Court Disposition

Offender convicted of three offences and sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 6 years with a non-parole period of 4 years.

Orders

  • ['The offender is convicted of supply a prohibited drug not less than the commercial quantity, being 249.9 grams of MDMA, in contravention of s25(2) of the Drugs Misuse and Trafficking Act.' 'The offender is convicted of knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime, being $179,000 found in his motor vehicle.' 'The...