29 Mar 2023
The High Court dismissed the appeal, holding the sentencing Judge's 15% discount for the s 27 cultural report and drug and alcohol report was within an acceptable range and the overall sentence was not manifestly excessive when measured against appropriate starting points, totality adjustments and uplift for prior relevant violence.
9 Feb 2021
The High Court found the District Court's starting point and uplifts for burglary and weapon were within range but concluded the sentencing Judge erred by not giving adequate credit for the appellant's diminished cognitive capacity and remorse; applying additional discounts (10% for cognitive impairment and 5% for remorse/rehabilitative prospects) on top of the 25% guilty plea discount produced a materially lower and appropriate end sentence of 13 months, so the original 16 month sentence was manifestly excessive and was substituted.
17 Nov 2017
A five‑month discount (33%) for 15 months spent on 24‑hour EM bail was within the permissible range of judicial discretion given Court of Appeal guidance; the sentence of five months' home detention was not manifestly excessive and the appeal is dismissed.
26 Jul 2017
The High Court held the end sentence was within the available and justifiable range: the starting point and uplift were open to the sentencing Judge given the aggravating features and prior history, the full early plea discount was applied and no extraordinary remorse credit was established; therefore the sentence was not manifestly excessive and the appeal was dismissed.
29 Feb 2016
The High Court held the sentence was not manifestly excessive. The Court accepted that time on remand and restrictive bail are legitimate mitigating factors for home detention (s9 framework) but s82's prohibition on accounting for pre-sentence detention applies only to imprisonment. The Court recalculated giving a six month allowance for remand and restrictive bail and a 5% guilty plea discount, producing an effective term of approximately 10.5 months home detention which aligned with the 11 months imposed, so no substitution of sentence was warranted.