New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Uplift for prior offending

Legal area

Court

3 Nov 2023

PRIDAY v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2023] NZHC 3107

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3107
Court

High Court

The High Court dismissed the appeal: the District Court's global starting point of three years was within range given the assault, repeated threats to kill and multiple breaches; the uplift of six months for prior offending was justified despite an erroneous reference to offending on bail because the uplift itself was within range; the overall 25% and 20% discounts applied were within available range; no material credit was required for a short period on EM bail; the end sentence of 25.5 months imprisonment was not manifestly excessive.
5 Sept 2023

SMITH v POLICE [2023] NZHC 2479

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2479
Court

High Court

The lead offence and related assaults fell within the top end of Nuku banding given Taueki factors including head strikes, a weapon used with force, and victim vulnerability; the Judge's starting point of three years on the lead charge and subsequent uplifts for the imitation firearm and prior Police charges were within range and unimpeachable; a small additional 5% deduction for childhood violence should have been applied but the sentence of three years' imprisonment was not manifestly excessive, therefore the appeal is dismissed.
21 Apr 2022

WEBB v R [2022] NZCA 137

Citation

[2022] NZCA 137
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court allowed the appeal, holding the 10% cultural discount was not inadequate but the nine month uplift for the appellant's prior non‑custodial sentences and being on bail was disproportionate and amounted to double punishment; accordingly the sentence of nine years and six months was set aside and substituted with nine years' imprisonment on the rape charge.
24 Nov 2021

R v GARDNER [2021] NZHC 3174

Citation

[2021] NZHC 3174
Court

High Court

Starting point of five years' imprisonment was appropriate given three forceful blows to the head, age and physical advantage, and domestic setting; a four month uplift for prior relevant offending produced 5 years 4 months; a full 25% guilty plea discount reduced the indicated sentence to not more than four years; the court allowed a 12% discount for personal background and a further 7% for genuine remorse, resulting in an imposed sentence of three years' imprisonment; drug withdrawal was not accepted as mitigation per s9(3).
15 Oct 2021

HENWOOD v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2021] NZHC 2763

Citation

[2021] NZHC 2763
Court

High Court

The High Court held the District Court's starting point, uplifts and discounts were within orthodox range and the overall end sentence of 32 months and two weeks was not manifestly excessive, therefore the appeal was dismissed.

New Zealand Case Law

PRIDAY v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2023] NZHC 3107

SMITH v POLICE [2023] NZHC 2479

WEBB v R [2022] NZCA 137

R v GARDNER [2021] NZHC 3174

HENWOOD v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2021] NZHC 2763