REGINA v IRWIN [1999] NSWCCA 361

REGINA v IRWIN [1999] NSWCCA 361

The original sentences were manifestly inadequate. The respondent was a detective sergeant who acted to help a drug dealer evade justice by seeking to have fingerprint evidence removed, corrupted one police officer and attempted to corrupt another, then gave false evidence to the Police Integrity Commission. Although there were mitigating factors, they could not justify an effective minimum term of twelve months for such serious offending, and parity with McDonald did not give the respondent a relevant sense of grievance. The Crown appeal should therefore be upheld, the sentences quashed, and longer sentences imposed.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
12 October 1999
Procedural Posture
Crown Appeal Against Sentence for Inadequacy / Appeal to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal From Sentences Imposed in the District Court
Outcome
Crown appeal upheld; sentences quashed and substituted sentences imposed.
Legal Topics
['crown Appeal' 'manifest Inadequacy of Sentence' 'perverting the Course of Justice' 'false Evidence Before the Police Integrity Commission' 'police Corruption' 'bribery' 'drug Offence Investigation']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing' 'criminal Appeals'] ['crown Appeal' 'manifest Inadequacy of Sentence' 'perverting the Course of Justice' 'false Evidence Before the Police Integrity Commission' 'police Corruption' 'bribery' 'drug Offence Investigation']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Crown Appeal Against Sentence for Inadequacy / Appeal to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal From Sentences Imposed in the District Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the sentences imposed for doing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice and knowingly giving false evidence to the Police Integrity Commission were manifestly inadequate.' 'Whether the Court should exercise its discretion to interfere on a Crown appeal.' 'Whether the sentence for giving false evidence should have been concurrent or cumulative, having regard to totality and double jeopardy.' "Whether parity with the co-offender McDonald should affect the respondent's sentence."]

Ratio Decidendi

The original sentences were manifestly inadequate. The respondent was a detective sergeant who acted to help a drug dealer evade justice by seeking to have fingerprint evidence removed, corrupted one police officer and attempted to corrupt another, then gave false evidence to the Police Integrity Commission. Although there were mitigating factors, they could not justify an effective minimum term of twelve months for such serious offending, and parity with McDonald did not give the respondent a relevant sense of grievance. The Crown appeal should therefore be upheld, the sentences quashed, and longer sentences imposed.

Court Disposition

Crown appeal upheld; sentences quashed and substituted sentences imposed.

Orders

  • ['Appeal upheld.' 'Sentence imposed by his Honour Judge Woods QC is quashed. In lieu thereof a sentence constructed of a minimum term of three years, commencing on 27 April 1999 and expiring on 26 April 2002, with an additional term of one year commencing on 27 April 2002 and expiring on 26 April 2003.' 'In relation...