Govender v R [2024] NSWCCA 179

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Govender v R [2024] NSWCCA 179 Hearing dates: 28 August 2024 Date of orders: 23 September 2024 Decision date: 23 September 2024 Before: Fagan J at [1]; N Adams J at [2]; Faulkner J at [96]. Decision: (1) The time for bringing this appeal is extended under r 3.5(5) of the Supreme Court (Criminal Appeal) Rules 2021 (NSW). (2) Leave to appeal is granted. (3) The appeal is dismissed. Catchwords: CRIME – Appeals – Appeal against sentence – application for leave to appeal out of time – manifest excess – old age and poor health of offender – whether sentencing judge erred in giving personal deterrence prominence alongside finding that offender unlikely to reoffend – whether sufficient weight given to onerous conditions of custody given offender's deteriorating health and age – whether appropriate approach taken regarding parity with co-offenders – where non-parole period only 55% of head sentence to reflect individual circumstances of the offender – sentence not manifestly excessive – extension of time granted – appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1912 (Cth), s 16A(2) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), ss 11.1(1), 307.5(1), 311.1(1)(g) Supreme Court (Criminal Appeal) Rules 2021, r 3.5(5) Cases Cited: Holyoak v R (1995) A Crim R 502 Liu v R [2023] NSWCCA 30 Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 R v Blanco [1999] NSWCCA 121; (1999) 106 A Crim R 303 R v Whyte (2002) 55 NSWLR 252; [2002] NSWCCA 343 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Thumbarian Govender (Applicant) Rex (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: A Parsons (Applicant) R Ranken (Respondent)