Nobbs v Mewburn [1999] NFSC 4

SUPREME COURT OF NORFOLK ISLAND Nobbs v Mewburn [1999] NFSC 4 Court of Petty Sessions Act 1960

ROY ANTHONY NOBBS v STEVEN JOHN MEWBURN

NO. SC 4 OF 1999 CORAM: BEAUMONT CJ DATE: 9 SEPTEMBER 1999

IN THE SUPREME COURT ) ) SC 4 of 1999 NORFOLK ISLAND ) IN THE MATTER OF: An Appeal under section 229(1) of the Court of Petty Sessions Act 1960 in its application to Norfolk Island BETWEEN: ROY ANTHONY NOBBS Appellant AND: STEVEN JOHN MEWBURN Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BEAUMONT CJ: 9 September 1999 INTRODUCTION The appellant Roy Anthony Nobbs, was charged in the Court of Petty Sessions under the provision of s 61 of the Crimes Act (NSW) 1900 ("the Crimes Act") in its application to Norfolk Island. The charge was that the appellant assaulted a woman at Taylors Road, Norfolk Island in November 1998. Although the charge was an indictable offence, the matter was dealt with by the Court of Petty Sessions summarily, with the consent of the parties, under s 476 of the Crimes Act. The appellant pleaded guilty and was convicted, and sentenced to complete twelve detention periods at the Detention Centre. He now appeals against this sentence under s 229(1) of the Petty Sessions Act 1960 on the ground that the penalty imposed was excessive. Although the appeal is in the nature of a re-hearing (s 234(1)), the proceedings in this Court were conducted in the main by reference to the depositions and exhibits in the Court of Petty Sessions.

THE RELEVANT STATUTORY PROVISIONS Section 61 of the Crimes Act makes provision for the offence of common assault by relevantly providing that whosoever assaults any person although not occasioning actual bodily harm, shall be imprisoned for two years. Pursuant to s 476(2) of the Crimes Act, the maximum penalty which could have been imposed upon the appellant was a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding 50 penalty units, or both. Section 4 of the Periodic Detention Act 1996 empowers a court to order periodic detention by relevantly providing: "4. (1) A court – (a) which convicts a person of an offence against a law of Norfolk Island; and (b) which, but for the option of making an order under this section, would otherwise sentence the person to a term of imprisonment of not less than 3 months but not more than 24 months, may, instead of sentencing the person to imprisonment, by order – (c) sentence the person to complete such number of detention periods at a detention centre, as the court specifies; and (d) direct that the person be released from custody subject to any order that may be made under subsection 9(2). (2) The number of detention periods that a person may be required to serve under an order shall be calculated at the rate of 1 detention period for each week of the term of imprisonment to which the person would otherwise have been sentenced."