Issac v R [2024] NSWCCA 2

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Issac v R [2024] NSWCCA 2 Hearing dates: 30 January 2024 Date of orders: 22 February 2024 Decision date: 22 February 2024 Before: Davies J at [1] Hamill J at [89] Huggett J at [90] Decision: 1. Grant leave to appeal. 2. Dismiss the appeal. Catchwords: CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – one count of obtaining a financial advantage by deception – where applicant falsely represented she was separated from her husband to claim Parenting Payment Single (PPS) – offending took place over seven years and involved fraudulent payments totalling $170,787.11 – where applicant did not give evidence and psychiatric evidence was tendered without objection – where the Crown accepted applicant's major depressive disorder at least at certain points in time impaired her decision making – where sentencing judge held applicant's mental health condition did not reduce her moral culpability to a significant degree – whether sentencing judge's finding on subjective circumstances amounted to a denial of procedural fairness – sentencing judge not obliged to accept what was contained in the psychiatric report – no independent evidence confirmed history given to psychiatrist and appeared inconsistent with other evidence – no denial of procedural fairness – ground rejected CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – whether judge ought to have found that applicant's mental condition would make custody more onerous – where no such finding was sought by the applicant at the sentence hearing – ground rejected CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – where fraudulent funds had been fully repaid – where applicant did not give sworn evidence of contrition or remorse – whether sentencing judge failed to take into account repayment of money as evidence of contrition – held sentencing judge not obliged to find contrition simply because fraudulent funds had been repaid – other matters inform determination of contrition – ground rejected – appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 16A Criminal Code (Cth) s 134.2 Cases Cited: Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 248 CLR 601; [2013] HCA 27 Edmonds v R [2022] NSWCCA 103 Hyunwook v R [2010] NSWCCA 148 R v Phelan (1993) 66 A Crim R 446 R v Issac [2023] NSWDC 207 Richards v R [2023] NSWCCA 264 Zhang v R [2011] NSWCCA 233 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Janina Issac (Applicant) The King (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: A Karim (Applicant) R Ranken (Respondent)