R v Hawat [2023] NSWDC 632

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Hawat [2023] NSWDC 632 Hearing dates: 10 - 11 July 2023 Date of orders: 11 July 2023 Decision date: 11 July 2023 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Neilson DCJ Decision: See par [74]-[76] Catchwords: CRIME – SENTENCE – SUPPLYING DRUGS ON ONGOING BASIS – Pleas of guilty – Difficult personal circumstances – Fair prospects of rehabilitation – Mid range of seriousness. Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act Firearms Act 1996 Cases Cited: Daher v R [2018] NSWCCA 287 R v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346 R v Edwards (2006) 90 ACrimR 510 Texts Cited: Nil. Category: Principal judgment Parties: Crown – R (NSW) Accused – Ibrahim Hawat Representation: Solicitors: Crown – Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) Accused – Astoria Lawyers

Counsel: Crown – Fay, I. Accused – Subeska, L. File Number(s): 2021/00313622 Publication restriction: Nil.

Judgment

Background 1. HIS HONOUR: The offender, Ibrahim Hawat, was originally charged with 13 offences. He pleaded guilty in the Local Court to four offences known as sequence 1, sequence 2, sequence 6 and sequence 9. The offences known as sequence 5, sequence 10, sequence 11 and sequence 12 are to be withdrawn by the Crown at the end of these sentencing proceedings. 2. Pursuant to a certificate under s 166 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 I am required to deal with the offender for the offences known as sequence 6 and sequence 9. Before me, the accused has pleaded guilty to sequence 1 and sequence 2, and asked me to take into account on a Form 1 the charges known as sequence 3, sequence 4, sequence 7, sequence 8 and sequence 13. 3. Essentially the offender was involved in supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis. That occurred between 20 July 2021 and 2 November 2021. The offender was arrested for these offences on 4 November 2021. He has been in custody since 1 April 2022 on unrelated charges to which he has pleaded not guilty and where there is to be a hearing of the substantive matter in 2024. It is appropriate that I commence any custodial sentence on 1 April 2022 as the offender may well be found not guilty of the other offences for which he has been charged. 4. On 4 November 2021 police executed a search warrant at the offender's residence at Arcadia Road, Chester Hill. At the time the offender was seated in a motorcar parked outside the residence with his brother-in-law, Mr Adam Abbas. The offender and Mr Abbas were both stopped and arrested. They were found to be in possession of a total of $7,135 in cash. The offender had possession of $1,150 in cash and Mr Abbas had possession of $5,985. 5. Mr Abbas gave a recorded police interview and a statement to the police in which he stated that the offender handed his phone and cash to Mr Abbas just prior to his arrest and told him to give it to Mr Abbas' sister, who is the offender's wife. 6. The sum of money of $7,135 is the sequence 6 offence dealing with property the proceeds of crime. It is a matter that I shall have to deal with later. 7. In a search of the offender's residence the police found a magazine for a Glock pistol containing 10 rounds of ammunition that was in the carport. That is the sequence 7 offence, possess ammunition without holding a licence, an offence contrary to s 65(3) of the Firearms Act 1996. It is to be taken into account of the Form 1. 8. That is also an offence against s 74(2) of the Firearms Act 1996, acquiring a pistol part subject to a firearms prohibition order. That is also to be taken into account on the Form 1. 9. The police also found a plastic vacuum-sealed bag containing 15.4 grams of cannabis leaf in the rear shed of the property. That is the sequence 9 offence and is to be dealt with under the s 166 certificate. 10. The police forensically examined two mobile phones which were registered to the offender and obtained telecommunication interception warrants and phone conversations revealed that the offender had offered to supply prohibited drugs to various persons.