R v Cox [2022] NSWDC 728

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Cox [2022] NSWDC 728 Hearing dates: 10 November 2022 Date of orders: 10 November 2022 Decision date: 10 November 2022 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: M L Williams SC DCJ Decision: An aggregate term of imprisonment of 4 years with a an non-parole period of 26 months: at [39] Catchwords: CRIME — Drug offences — Supply prohibited drug — Large commercial quantity – Police pursuit SENTENCING — Aggravating factors — Breach of conditional liberty SENTENCING — Relevant factors on sentence — Form 1 offences — General principles — Maximum penalty — Multiple offences — Accumulation, concurrency and totality — Aggregate sentences — Objective seriousness — Moral culpability SENTENCING — Subjective considerations on sentence — Mental illness — Age of offender — Drug addiction —Special circumstances Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 Road Rules 2014 Cases Cited: R v Norton [2022] NSWDC 468 Category: Sentence Parties: Rex (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions)

Lucas Cox (Offender) Representation: Mr H Fitzhardinge (Solicitor, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions)

Mr W Hussey (Counsel for the offender) File Number(s): 2021/00223812

Judgment 1. Lucas Cox is 48 years old and has spent almost three years of his life in custody over various short periods for various offences. 2. He appears for sentence having pleaded guilty in circumstances justifying a 25% discount for the utilitarian value of the pleas to two counts, 1. Supplying not less than a large commercial quantity, namely 562 grams of methylamphetamine, contrary to s 25(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (sequence 11). The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment with a standard non‑parole period of 15 years. 2. Police pursuit contrary to s 51B of the Crimes Act 1900 (sequence 5). The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years, with a period of licence disqualification of three years, reducible to a minimum period of of 12 months and no standard non-parole period. 1. To be dealt with on the Form 1 in relation to the Police Pursuit matter (sequence 5) is a offence of not stop and give particulars contrary to the Road Rules 2014 (sequence 10). The offence carries a maximum penalty of a $550 fine. As the Crown freely acknowledges there is no significant increase in the penalty for the principal offence as a result of that offence 2. It is conceded that a term of full-time custody is applicable. He was arrested on 20 October 2021. However, from the date of his arrest until 19 April 2022 he was serving a sentence for receiving offences, so he has been in custody solely on this matter from 20 April 2022. 3. The sentencing process has been greatly assisted by very succinct written submissions from the Crown Prosecutor and Mr Hussey of counsel for the offender. There is no dispute between the Crown and Mr Hussey as to the objective seriousness of either offence and there is no challenge by the Crown to the suggested indicative sentences and aggregate sentence proposed by Mr Hussey and the commencement date of the sentence proposed, namely 19 January 2022, in the exercise of the Court's discretion bearing in mind questions of totality and the period in custody that he has served for unrelated matters. 4. If I may say so, Mr Hussey's submissions coincide with the preliminary views that I had formed having read the material before receipt of Mr Hussey's submissions. 5. The propositions put by Mr Hussey were undoubtedly founded on the sentence that I imposed on the co-offender in R v Norton [2022] NSWDC 468. Mr Norton had pleaded guilty to supplying 1.551 kilograms of methylamphetamine contrary to s 25(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985, but he also had an offence of dealing with the proceeds of crime and possessing a prohibited weapon so his aggregate sentence was structured differently to that proposed for Mr Cox, but on in relation to the s 25(2) offence the indicative sentence I imposed was three years with a non-parole period of 18 months. That is the indicative sentence proposed by Mr Hussey bearing in mind questions of parity and the objective seriousness of Mr Cox's offending. 6. To put things very broadly, while Mr Norton supplied 1.5 kilograms of methylamphetamine, Mr Cox is pleading guilty to supplying just over half a kilogram of methylamphetamine but in different circumstances where he was an upline supplier to Norton of larger quantities, whereas Norton was a retailer of smaller quantities of methylamphetamine. 7. The agreed facts show that police were monitoring Norton's phone calls from March until mid-June 2021 and during those calls they discovered that Cox arranged to sell Norton a total of 562 grams of methylamphetamine. The first of three episodes was on 15 April 2021 when he supplied 285 grams of methylamphetamine following text messages and communications between the two. The next was on 22 April 2021 when he supplied 142 grams of methylamphetamine. The price was discussed as being $3,500 an ounce or $17,500 for five ounces. The third supply was of 135 grams of methylamphetamine at Catherine Hill Bay on 31 May 2021. 8. A few days prior, on 27 May 2021, Police were watching an address in Catherine Hill Bay. They observed Cox drive into the property and then leave, and then return and then leave again. 9. Following the supply on 31 May 2021 the Police pursuit arose in circumstances where police saw the car being driven by Cox travelling south on Cams Wharf Road to the Pacific Highway. They were in an unmarked Police Car. They stopped in front of Cox's car to stop it moving forward and approached the driver's door and opened it and Cox immediately put the car in reverse and accelerated harshly away, with the driver's door still open which struck Detective Senior Constable Ryan knocking him to the ground. 10. It is agreed that the offender had been stabbed and assaulted by two males some weeks earlier, and those males had been charged over that incident. 11. Cox drove around the police car onto the Pacific Highway and went north towards Swansea. Police put on the lights and siren and chased him at speeds up to 120 km/h in a 90 km/h zone. On at least four occasions he braked harshly causing the rear wheels to lock up in an endeavour to have the police car collide with him. 12. At the Murrays Beach exit he braked harshly causing the wheel to lock up spinning around in a U-turn and then he headed south and collided with the side of the police car causing extensive damage. He kept travelling towards Cams Wharf. The Police terminated the pursuit. Cox narrowly avoided a head-on collision side-swiping the side of a transit van causing extensive damage. 13. The Police could not locate him. He drove his car into a fire trail near the address at Catherine Hill Bay. Police spoke to a Ms Amy Bead who said that Cox had attended her residence. He was agitated and said the Police were after him. He wanted to cover his car. Police were able to tell from telephone towers that Cox was still in the area. Despite a search they were unable to find him, but messages between Cox and Norton showed that he knew that he was in trouble. 14. On 27 June, Police executed a search warrant at the Catherine Hill Bay address. hey found five ounces of methylamphetamine hidden in a pile of branches, packed in four bags each containing an ounce and one bag containing smaller bundles being a total of 135 grams which was the subject of the third supply. 15. Police could not locate Cox until he was arrested on 20 October.