13 Sept 2017
SKIPPER v R [2017] NZCA 399
- Citation
- [2017] NZCA 399
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court held the trial judge was not wrong to refuse to substitute the s61 charge with the s62 charge given statutory ambiguity and precedent; however the sentence was manifestly excessive because insufficient weight was given to the s62 maximum as an indicator of community seriousness and to mitigation; an appropriate starting point was two years with substantial mitigation resulting in a sentence of about 17 months; the sentence was quashed and the matter remitted for re-sentencing with directions to prepare a home detention appendix.