7 Dec 2023
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed because the issues advanced are applications of settled law that do not raise matters of public or general importance nor disclose a real prospect of miscarriage of justice, and the Court of Appeal did not err in its evidential or sentencing analysis.
5 Oct 2023
Given the victim was unconscious, suffered physical and psychological harm, and the offender took steps to seclude her and persisted after being discovered, the starting point of eight years was within the permissible range; although some discounts (youth and remorse) could have been marginally larger, the aggregate 40% reduction and resulting sentence of four years and ten months was not manifestly excessive, so the appeal must be dismissed.
22 Dec 2022
The Court held the Judge did not err: the victim's death and the severe, permanent brain injury were properly considered within the assessment of seriousness; the offending appropriately fell in Band 3 of Taueki given extreme violence, serious injury, vulnerability and breach of trust (and s 9A factors); and the starting point of 11.5 years (reduced to an effective 10.5 years with discounts and concurrency) was within the available range and not manifestly excessive. The appeal was dismissed.
20 Dec 2022
The Court held the guilty verdict on the single charge was not inconsistent with acquittals on others because DNA corroboration supported that conviction and jurors could reasonably have been unsure about other allegations; the proposed propensity evidence was irrelevant because the defendant conceded some sexual activity so the evidence had no tendency to disprove propensity to offend; sentencing was within the appropriate band, the sentencing Judge properly made factual findings for sentencing and applied lawful discounts; therefore both appeals dismissed.
15 Dec 2022
Preventive detention was imposed with a minimum term of 10 years because the defendant demonstrated a long-standing pattern of serious sexual offending against familial female victims, posed a high and enduring risk of sexual reoffending without intensive treatment, minimised his conduct and had not engaged in remediation; a finite sentence (calculated at 16 years 10 months) would not adequately protect the community or incentivise necessary rehabilitation.
18 Nov 2022
The judge assessed the Christchurch delivery as within mid-range of Zhang band 2 and placed the defendant on the cusp of 'lesser' and 'significant' roles, reduced the standard band midpoint to a methamphetamine starting point of 4 years, uplifted six months to reflect serious sustained MDMA supply (global starting point 4.5 years), then applied cumulative discounts (10% good character, 10% youth/mitigating circumstances, 20% remorse/rehabilitation and 15% guilty plea) plus one month for restrictive bail to reach an end sentence of 23 months which was converted to 10 months home detention as t…
4 Oct 2022
Starting point fixed at 8.5 years' imprisonment for manslaughter (Band Three, lower edge) after comparing analogous cases; reduced by six months for provocation to 8 years, then discounted 25% for early and consistent guilty plea and a further 5% for remorse resulting in an end sentence of 6 years' imprisonment; unlawful possession of a firearm sentenced to 6 months to be served concurrently; order for destruction of firearm and ammunition.
13 Jul 2022
Leave to appeal out of time granted; the offending involved limited premeditation, exposure to risk from unprotected sex and significant psychological harm, placing it at the bottom of band one under R v AM; the starting point of six years six months and the discounts applied were within range and not manifestly excessive; therefore the sentence of three years and nine months was affirmed; publication of the complainant's occupation was permitted while name/address suppression remains.
30 Jun 2022
Fresh expert evidence admitted; cocaine powder is, on the evidence, somewhat less harmful and less toxic than methamphetamine but capable of conversion to more harmful crack; intra-class differentiation is permissible where evidence justifies it; sentencing starting points for cocaine should not exceed methamphetamine starting points and generally attract a modest (around 5%) downward adjustment from equivalent methamphetamine starting points; applying the two-stage analysis and case-specific discounts (foreign national status, guilty pleas, rehabilitation/good character where established) th…
15 Nov 2021
The Court found beyond reasonable doubt that the offending comprised multiple non-consensual anal rapes over a significant period (at least two incidents over about 45 minutes), causing injury and involving breach of trust; these aggravating features placed the offending within band one of R v AM, making a seven year starting point appropriate; the sentencing Judge's discounts (total 50%, including 15% for the s 27 report) were adequate and the resultant three and a half year sentence was not excessive, so the appeal is dismissed.