R v Obbens [2022] NSWCCA 109

R v Obbens [2022] NSWCCA 109

Although the sentencing judge's statement that no greater sentence would have been imposed in 2016 if all matters had been sentenced together contained an evaluative error if read literally, the correct question was whether the total punishment already imposed and the new community corrections order could encompass the whole criminality and whether imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty. Given the respondent's earlier 3-year imprisonment for similar offending, the delay and fragmentation of sentencing, his rehabilitation, personal circumstances, experiences in gaol and the fairness concerns identified in R v Todd and Mill v The Queen, a further sentence of imprisonment was not...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
27 May 2022
Procedural Posture
Criminal Prosecution Sentence Appeal / Appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions Against Sentence Imposed in the District Court of New South Wales on 23 February 2022
Outcome
Appeal dismissed.
Legal Topics
['prosecution Appeal' 'manifest Inadequacy of Sentence' 'totality Principle' 'child Sexual Offending' 'community Corrections Order' 'delay in Sentencing' 'rehabilitation']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing'] ['prosecution Appeal' 'manifest Inadequacy of Sentence' 'totality Principle' 'child Sexual Offending' 'community Corrections Order' 'delay in Sentencing' 'rehabilitation']

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Prosecution Sentence Appeal / Appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions Against Sentence Imposed in the District Court of New South Wales on 23 February 2022

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the sentencing judge erred by failing properly to apply the totality principle.' 'Whether the sentence imposed was manifestly inadequate.' 'Whether, having considered all possible alternatives, no penalty other than imprisonment was appropriate.']

Ratio Decidendi

Although the sentencing judge's statement that no greater sentence would have been imposed in 2016 if all matters had been sentenced together contained an evaluative error if read literally, the correct question was whether the total punishment already imposed and the new community corrections order could encompass the whole criminality and whether imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty. Given the respondent's earlier 3-year imprisonment for similar offending, the delay and fragmentation of sentencing, his rehabilitation, personal circumstances, experiences in gaol and the fairness concerns identified in R v Todd and Mill v The Queen, a further sentence of imprisonment was not...

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed.

Orders

  • ["Dismiss the Director's appeal against the sentence imposed on William John Obbens in the District Court on 23 February 2022."]