Bott v R [2023] NSWCCA 255

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Bott v R [2023] NSWCCA 255 Hearing dates: 2 August 2023 Date of orders: 11 October 2023 Decision date: 11 October 2023 Before: Beech-Jones CJ at CL at [1] Fagan J at [2] Dhanji J at [11] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal. (2) The sentences imposed in the District Court on 6 April 2022 for the offences of knowingly take part in the supply of methylamphetamine and possession of methylamphetamine are confirmed. (3) The sentence imposed in the District Court on 6 April 2022 for the offence of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug is quashed and in lieu thereof the applicant is sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years and 6 months with a non-parole period of 4 years and 6 months to date from 16 February 2022. (4) The applicant will become eligible for release to parole on 15 August 2026. Catchwords: CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – whether failure to find or take into account unchallenged expert evidence of offending behaviour and pre-existing co-morbid mental disorders – GBL offence – whether sentence imposed is manifestly excessive Legislation Cited: Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Regulation 2014 (NSW) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Criminal Code (Cth) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) Cases Cited: AB v R [2013] NSWCCA 160 Adams v The Queen (2008) 234 CLR 143; [2008] HCA 15 Arnaout v R (2008) 191 A Crim R 149; [2008] NSWCCA 278 Davidson v R (2009) 75 NSWLR 150; [2009] NSWCCA 150 Decision Restricted [2019] NSWCCA 102 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1; [2010] NSWCCA 194 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Maxwell (2013) 228 A Crim R 218; [2013] VSCA 50 DS v R; DM v R (2022) 109 NSWLR 82; [2022] NSWCCA 156 Farah Constructions Pty Ltd v Say-Dee Pty Ltd (2007) 230 CLR 89; [2007] HCA 22 Hili v The Queen; Jones v The Queen (2010) 242 CLR 520; [2010] HCA 45 McMahon v R [2011] NSWCCA 147 Melikan v R [2008] NSWCCA 156 Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 Patel v The Queen (2012) 247 CLR 531; [2012] HCA 29 Petkos v R [2020] NSWCCA 55 Ruvinovski v The Queen (2000) 116 A Crim R 131 R v Abdelrahman Masri (District Court (NSW), Yehia SC DCJ, 12 March 2020, unrep) R v Colledge (District Court (NSW), Hosking SC DCJ, 20 April 2010, unrep) R v Darwell (1997) 94 A Crim R 35 R v Engert (1995) 84 A Crim R 67 R v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346; [1999] NSWCCA R v McDonald (2002) 128 A Crim R 44; [2002] NSWCCA 34 R v Phelps (District Court (NSW), Ellis DCJ, 5 September 2014, unrep) R v Sopronick (District Court (NSW), Berman SC DCJ, 7 February 2014, unrep) R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269; [2007] VSCA 102 R v Zamagias [2002] NSWCCA 17 Tepania v R (2018) 275 A Crim R 233; [2018] NSWCCA 247 The Director of Public Prosecutions v Maxwell [2013] HCATrans 178 (16 August 2013) The Queen v Guode (2020) 267 CLR 141; [2020] HCA 8 The Queen v Olbrich (1999) 199 CLR 270; [1999] HCA 54 The Queen v Pham (2015) 256 CLR 550; [2015] HCA 39 Veen v The Queen (No 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465; [1988] HCA 14 Wilson v The Queen (1992) 174 CLR 313; [1992] HCA 31 Wong v The Queen; Leung v The Queen (2001) CLR 584; [2001] HCA 64 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Grant Neil Bott (Applicant) Rex (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: P Strickland SC and S Pararajasingham (Applicant) R Ranken (Respondent)