Urban Field Group Pty Ltd v SafeWork NSW [2024] NSWCCA 62

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Urban Field Group Pty Ltd v SafeWork NSW [2024] NSWCCA 62 Hearing dates: 14 February 2024 Date of orders: 06 May 2024 Decision date: 06 May 2024 Before: Adamson JA at [1]; Wright J at [2]; Sweeney J at [95] Decision: (1) Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – requirement to show error in appeals under s 55AA of Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) – fact finding in circumstantial cases – where none of the circumstances relied upon was indispensable, each circumstance not required to be proved beyond reasonable doubt – circumstances not to be considered piecemeal but as a whole based on the entirety of the evidence – no error in the fact finding process SENTENCING – relevant factors on sentence –specific deterrence – whether sentencing judge impermissibly gave specific deterrence primary significance in sentencing – weight to be given to a factor such as specific deterrence quintessentially a matter for sentencing judge – no error disclosed SENTENCING – assessing objective seriousness – whether sentencing judge failed to take into account the relevant circumstances of the present case when assessing objective seriousness – relevant circumstances taken into account – no error disclosed SENTENCING – whether sentence is manifestly excessive – comparable cases providing a yardstick – sentence not manifestly excessive Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 5AA(1), 7 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 21A(2)(g), 21A(3)(e), 32 Fines Act 1996 (NSW), s 6 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), ss 19(1), 32 Cases Cited: Ahmad v R [2021] NSWCCA 30 Attorney General v Jamestrong Packaging Australia Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCCA 319 Barbaro v The Queen (2014) 253 CLR 58; [2014] HCA 2 Bulga Underground Operations Pty Ltd v Nash (2016) 93 NSWLR 338; [2016] NSWCCA 37 Carbone v R (No 2) [2024] NSWCCA 7 Dansie v The Queen (2022) 274 CLR 651; [2022] HCA 25 Davidson v R [2009] NSWCCA 150; (2009) 195 A Crim R 406 Dinsdale v The Queen (2000) 202 CLR 321; [2000] HCA 54 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1; [2010] NSWCCA 194 Filippou v The Queen (2015) 256 CLR 47; [2015] HCA 29 Greentree v R [2018] NSWCCA 227 Harris v Natural Resources Access Regulator; Timmins v Natural Resources Access Regulator [2023] NSWCCA 16; (2023) 254 LGERA 419 Hili v The Queen; Jones v The Queen (2010) 242 CLR 520; [2010] HCA 45 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; [1936] HCA 40 Hunt v R [2017] NSWCCA 305 Lowndes v The Queen (1999) 195 CLR 665; [1999] HCA 29 Magro v R [2020] NSWCCA 25 Markarian v The Queen (2005) 228 CLR 357; [2005] HCA 25 Mulato v R [2006] NSWCCA 282 Nash v Silver City Drilling (NSW) Pty Ltd; Attorney General for New South Wales v Silver City Drilling (NSW) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCCA 96 Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 R v Youkhana [2004] NSWCCA 412 SafeWork NSW v Co-Wynn Building Contractors Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 61 SafeWork NSW v Easy Fall Guttering Pty Limited [2021] NSWDC 44 SafeWork (NSW) v Romanous Contractors; SafeWork (NSW) v John Allen Romanous [2016] NSWDC 48 SafeWork NSW v Landmark Roofing Pty Ltd (No. 2) [2020] NSWDC 420 SafeWork NSW v Poletti Corp Pty Ltd [2019] NSWDC 791 SafeWork NSW v Urban Field Group Pty Ltd [2022] NSWDC 575 SafeWork NSW v Wholesale Joinery Pty Limited [2018] NSWDC 91 Shepherd v The Queen (1990) 170 CLR 573; [1990] HCA 56 The Queen v Baden-Clay (2006) 258 CLR 308; [2006] HCA 35 The Queen v Hillier (2007) 228 CLR 618; [2007] HCA 13 Wong v The Queen (2001) 207 CLR 584; [2001] HCA 64 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Urban Field Group Pty Ltd (Appellant) SafeWork NSW (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: C O'Neill (Appellant) L Doust (Respondent)