Federal Court of Australia
CATCHWORDS
Customs Act - Import & Possess Prohibited Drug - Appeal against severity of sentence - Matters to be taken into account - Balance of head sentence, with minimum non parole period and entitlement to remission - Purposes of parole release - Necessity to allow reasonable opportunity for treatment of
persons addicted to drugs - Duly proportioned sentence.
Customs Act Sect. 233B Sect. 233B 1 (ca) Sect. 233B 1 (d)
N.T. Commonwealth Prisoners Act 1967 Sect. 4 (1) (a)
Parole of Prisoners Ordinance 1976 (N.T.) S.4(1)
Remission under Part IV Regulation Prisons Act (N.T.)
On appeal from the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
of Australia.
BETWEEN: ALAN MICHAEL RICH and LEIGH DAVID BOURKE
APPELLANTS AND: THE QUEEN
RESPONDENT
NTG 4 of 1981 CORAM: MUIRHEAD, KEELY & FISHER JJ.
x IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
NORTHERN TERRITORY No. NTG 4 of 1981 DISTRICT REGISTRY
MY YY YY
GENERAL DIVISION
ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
BETWEEN: ALAN MICHAEL RICH and LEIGH DAVID BOURKE
Appellants AND: THE QUEEN
Respondent
CORAM: MUIRHEAD, KEELY & FISHER JJ.
7__September 1981
THE COURT
On 12 February last the appellants were arraigned and pleaded guilty before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory to offences pursuant to the Customs Act. .
Both appellants admitted that on 10 December 1980 at Darwin they were in possession without reasonable excuse of heroin, a prohibited import to which s.233 B of the Customs Act applied, such import being reasonably suspected of having been imported into Australia in contravention of the Act contrary to s.233 B l(ca) of that Act.
In addition the appeilant Bourke was charged and pleaded guilty to having been knowingly concerned in the importation of that heroin into Australia contrary to s.233B 1(d) of the
Customs Act.
BS a.
It was common ground that the amount of the narcotic goods illegally imported by Rich within his body was 21.016 grams which contained 7.794 grams of actual heroin the narcotic substance referred to in the Act. The traffickable quantity of this drug pursuant to s.235 of the Act and the sixth schedule is 2 grams. Thus unless the court was satisfied that the offences were not committed for any purpose related to the sale of or other commercial dealing in the narcotic goods the maximum penalties applicable were 25 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $100,000. The appellants gave evidence to the effect that the heroin was imported solely for their own use, but the learned trial judge was not so persuaded and the appellants were thus liable to penalties determined within the higher range. No challenge was made to the trial judge's factual findings on this aspect which he expressed in these terms -
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