Convery v R [2014] NSWCCA 93

Convery v R [2014] NSWCCA 93

The appeal was allowed because the sentencing judge's remarks did not refer to the applicant's pleas of guilty, and the length of the head sentence showed that a 25 per cent discount could not have been applied without exceeding the statutory maximum. There was no apparent reason to deny the discount, and the only...

Source-derived case information.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
27 May 2014
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal Sentence Appeal / Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal
Outcome
Leave to appeal granted; appeal allowed; sentence imposed at first instance for assaulting a police officer occasioning actual bodily harm quashed; applicant re-sentenced.
Legal Topics
['assaulting a Police Officer Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm' 'guilty Plea Discount' 'manifest Excess' 'reduced Moral Culpability' 'mental Illness and Intoxication' 'non Parole Period']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing' 'criminal Appeals'] ['assaulting a Police Officer Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm' 'guilty Plea Discount' 'manifest Excess' 'reduced Moral Culpability' 'mental Illness and Intoxication' 'non Parole Period']

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Appeal Sentence Appeal / Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the sentencing judge erred by failing to allow, overlooking or miscalculating a discount for the applicant's pleas of guilty entered at the earliest opportunity." 'Whether a lesser sentence was warranted under s 6(3) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912.' 'Whether the sentence for assaulting a police officer occasioning actual bodily harm and the aggregate sentence were manifestly excessive.']

Ratio Decidendi

The appeal was allowed because the sentencing judge's remarks did not refer to the applicant's pleas of guilty, and the length of the head sentence showed that a 25 per cent discount could not have been applied without exceeding the statutory maximum. There was no apparent reason to deny the discount, and the only available conclusion was that the discount had been overlooked or miscalculated. A lesser sentence was warranted having regard to the seven-year maximum penalty, the applicant's reduced moral culpability and her entitlement to a 25 per cent discount for pleas of guilty entered at the earliest opportunity.

Court Disposition

Leave to appeal granted; appeal allowed; sentence imposed at first instance for assaulting a police officer occasioning actual bodily harm quashed; applicant re-sentenced.

Orders

  • ['That leave to appeal be granted.' 'That the appeal be allowed.' 'That the sentence imposed at first instance for the offence of assaulting a police officer occasioning actual bodily harm be quashed and in lieu thereof that the applicant be sentenced to a term of imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty...