8 Jan 2020
The application for leave to appeal out of time was refused because it was inordinate and unexplained delay, the grounds of appeal were without merit given the applicant's unequivocal guilty plea and admissions that he intended to traffic the drugs, and the sentence was imposed in accordance with established sentencing guidelines and was not excessive.
30 Jan 2018
In the absence of direct or credible evidence that specific parts of the haul were intended for personal consumption, a sentencing judge is entitled to reject a bare assertion of self-consumption and to apply guideline ranges for trafficking in the relevant quantity of Ice; applying those principles here, the starting point of eight years and the discount applied were within lawful sentencing discretion, so there was no arguable error of law or manifest excess warranting leave to appeal.
22 Jan 2018
Leave to appeal was granted limited to the issues that the sentencing judge's starting point was too high and that the percentage discount for self-consumption was too low; the judge did not err in concluding only one packet was for the applicant's consumption; where a significant proportion is for personal use a minimum 10% discount is the appropriate benchmark per authority.
30 Sept 2016
Applicant knowingly and deliberately filed the Notice of Abandonment (she acknowledged writing that she 'cancel my appeal' and accepted responsibility), so the abandonment is not a nullity; the judge correctly applied sentencing guidelines and the sentence of 7 years 9 months was appropriate and not manifestly excessive; new mitigation raised for the first time on this appeal is impermissibly late and does not justify reduction.
27 Jan 2015
The jury, properly directed about circumstantial evidence and the law that trafficking may be proved from inferences, was entitled to disbelieve the appellant and to infer that some of the quantity was possessed for trafficking given the expert evidence on value relative to the appellant's means and his own inconsistent account; accordingly the application for leave to appeal against conviction was dismissed.
2 Dec 2014
The judge's summing up was adequate and fair; having considered quantity, packaging and expert evidence the jury was entitled to conclude that the applicant possessed the drugs for trafficking; there was no miscarriage of justice and the application for leave to appeal against conviction was dismissed.
25 Nov 2011
Court held trial judge was entitled to reject the applicant's and wife's evidence on credibility grounds; the judge erred in enhancing the starting point for 'history of trafficking' in the circumstances and mis-stated the starting point; correct starting point was 3 years 3 months, applying the appropriate tariff and facts, and after the agreed reduced guilty-plea discount the appropriate sentence was substituted at two years two months imprisonment.
22 Feb 1995
The Court upheld the conviction because the trial judge properly considered the five packets, the total weight of the drugs, and the appellant's unpersuasive testimony and credibility; the Court also upheld the sentence because the trial judge applied appropriate discounts and correctly applied the totality principle and the aggregate sentence was not manifestly excessive.