Regina v Grammenos [1999] NSWCCA 145

Regina v Grammenos [1999] NSWCCA 145

The Court intervened because unusual mitigating material, including the applicant's youth, absence of prior record, psychological circumstances, gambling addiction and evidence of rehabilitation, had not been available to the sentencing judge, and both Crown and applicant invited intervention. However, the multiplicity, seriousness and duration of the offences made a non-custodial outcome inappropriate, so the sentences for the section 300 offences were quashed and replaced with concurrent total terms of three years penal servitude with a minimum term of one year and three months and an additional term of 21 months, while the concurrent 12-month sentences for section 178BA offences were...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
07 June 1999
Procedural Posture
Criminal Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence / Court of Criminal Appeal Hearing of Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence From the District Court
Outcome
Application for leave to appeal against sentence granted; appeal allowed; sentences reduced in part.
Legal Topics
['sentence Appeal' 'exceptional Circumstances' 'psychiatrically Affected Offender' 'refusal of Legal Assistance' 'making a False Instrument' 'using a False Instrument' 'obtaining a Valuable Thing by Deception' 'gambling Addiction' 'mitigation']
['criminal Law' 'criminal Procedure' 'sentencing'] ['sentence Appeal' 'exceptional Circumstances' 'psychiatrically Affected Offender' 'refusal of Legal Assistance' 'making a False Instrument' 'using a False Instrument' 'obtaining a Valuable Thing by Deception' 'gambling Addiction' 'mitigation']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence / Court of Criminal Appeal Hearing of Application for Leave to Appeal Against Sentence From the District Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether leave to appeal against sentence should be granted and the appeal allowed in light of mitigating evidence not before the District Court.' "Whether the applicant's youth, absence of prior record, psychological circumstances, gambling addiction and self-rehabilitation justified reduction of sentence." 'Whether the period already served was sufficient or whether a further custodial sentence remained appropriate.' 'Whether special circumstances justified an additional term beyond the proportion mentioned in section 5(2) of the Sentencing Act.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Court intervened because unusual mitigating material, including the applicant's youth, absence of prior record, psychological circumstances, gambling addiction and evidence of rehabilitation, had not been available to the sentencing judge, and both Crown and applicant invited intervention. However, the multiplicity, seriousness and duration of the offences made a non-custodial outcome inappropriate, so the sentences for the section 300 offences were quashed and replaced with concurrent total terms of three years penal servitude with a minimum term of one year and three months and an additional term of 21 months, while the concurrent 12-month sentences for section 178BA offences were...

Court Disposition

Application for leave to appeal against sentence granted; appeal allowed; sentences reduced in part.

Orders

  • ['The application for leave to appeal against sentence is granted.' 'The appeal is allowed.' 'The sentences imposed upon the offences contrary to sections 300(1) and 300(2) of the Crimes Act are quashed.' 'In lieu of those sentences, the applicant is sentenced on each count, to be served concurrently, to a total...