R v WALKER [2019] NZHC 710

R v WALKER [2019] NZHC 710

Given the defendant's restrained but persistent pattern of offending against vulnerable pubescent victims, the breach of trust, planning, refusal to engage in treatment, and recent serious offending despite advanced age, the Court was satisfied that the protection of the community required preventive detention and imposed it with a minimum term of six years three months.

Citation
[2019] NZHC 710
Parties
Crown: The Queen; Defendant: Robert Arnold Walker
Court
High Court
Jurisdiction
New Zealand
Judgment Date
5 April 2019
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sexual Offences / Sentencing in High Court Following District Court Conviction After Jury Trial; District Court Declined Jurisdiction Under S90
Outcome
Preventive detention imposed with minimum term of imprisonment of six years three months
Legal Topics
Rape, Attempted Rape, Indecent Assault, Vulnerability of Victim, Breach of Trust, Sentencing Act S87, Sentencing Act S90, Minimum Period of Imprisonment, Recidivism
Criminal Law Sentencing Sexual Offences Preventive Detention Risk Assessment Rape Attempted Rape Indecent Assault +6 more

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Parties

The Queen

Crown

Robert Arnold Walker

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Criminal Sexual Offences / Sentencing in High Court Following District Court Conviction After Jury Trial; District Court Declined Jurisdiction Under S90

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether to impose preventive detention or a finite determinate sentence
  2. 2 Appropriate starting point and uplift for previous similar offending
  3. 3 Assessment of risk of sexual reoffending and whether risk is likely at end of any determinate term

Ratio Decidendi

Given the defendant's restrained but persistent pattern of offending against vulnerable pubescent victims, the breach of trust, planning, refusal to engage in treatment, and recent serious offending despite advanced age, the Court was satisfied that the protection of the community required preventive detention and imposed it with a minimum term of six years three months.

Court Disposition

Preventive detention imposed with minimum term of imprisonment of six years three months

Orders

  • Sentence of preventive detention imposed for the offences of rape, attempted rape and indecent assault
  • Minimum term of imprisonment to be served before eligibility for release of six years three months