Commissioner for Fair Trading v Matthew Geoffrey Rixon (No. 5) [2022] NSWSC 146

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Commissioner for Fair Trading v Matthew Geoffrey Rixon (No. 5) [2022] NSWSC 146 Hearing dates: 1 February 2022 Date of orders: 23 February 2022 Decision date: 23 February 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Dhanji J Decision: (1) The defendant, Matthew Geoffrey Rixon, is convicted of contempt of court. (2) The defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 21 months commencing 17 November 2021 and expiring 16 August 2023. (3) The defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings on an indemnity basis. Catchwords: CONTEMPT OF COURT – sentencing – breach of consent orders preventing conduct with respect to residential building work – fences – plea of guilty to 18 acts of contempt – contempt committed during non-parole period of a sentence imposed for a similar breach of the same orders – establishing a company structure to minimise prospect of detection and to distance himself from the offending – no genuine contrition – onerous conditions in custody due to COVID-19 – 24-hour lockdown is not good for your health - no substantial delay – late plea of guilty – wisdom of a new line of work – third sentence for breaches of the same orders – discretion to impose term of imprisonment exercised Legislation Cited: Australian Consumer Law Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) Supreme Court Rules 1970 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union v Mudginberri Station Pty Ltd (1986) 161 CLR 98; [1986] HCA 46 Cameron v The Queen (2002) 209 CLR 339; [2002] HCA 6 Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 2) [2014] NSWSC 431 Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No.3) [2014] NSWSC 1279 NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 4) [2018] NSWSC 1 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Saadieh [2021] NSWSC 1186 Dowling v Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (2018) 99 NSWLR 229; [2018] NSWCA 340 Hawkesbury City Council v Kara-Ali (No 3) [2019] NSWLEC 55 He v Sun (2021) 104 NSWLR 518 (2021) NSWCA 95 Ledson v Taylor (No 2) (Supreme Court (ACT), Nicholson J, 2 June 2010, unrep) R v Blanco (1999) 106 A Crim R 303; [1999] NSWCCA 121 R v Sharma (2002) 54 NSWLR 300; [2002] NSWCCA 142 R v Thomson; R v Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383; [2000] NSWCCA 309 Registrar of the Court of Appeal v Maniam (No 2) (1992) 26 NSWLR 309 Sabra v R (2015) 257 A Crim R 33; [2015] NSWCCA 38 Sun v He (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1298 Xiao v R (2018) 96 NSWLR 1; [2018] NSWCCA 4 Texts Cited: Fox R and Freiberg A, Sentencing: State and Federal Law in Victoria (Oxford University Press: Melbourne 1999) 2nd edition, p 739 N Adams and B Baker, "Sentencing for Contempt of Court", National Judicial College of Australia and the Australian National University Sentencing Conference, 29 February 2020 Category: Sentence Parties: Commissioner for Fair Trading (Plaintiff) Matthew Geoffrey Rixon (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: K Curry (Plaintiff) B Murray (Defendant)