R v Robertson; R v Westwood [2024] NSWDC 528

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Robertson; R v Westwood [2024] NSWDC 528 Hearing dates: 1 November 2024 Date of orders: 8 November 2024 Decision date: 08 November 2024 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Newlinds SC DCJ Decision: (1) Mr Westwood, after a deduction of 25% for the plea of guilty, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 8 years, to commence 10 March 2022 and expire 9 March 2030 with a non-parole period of 4 years to commence 10 March 2022. (2) The first date you will be eligible for parole will be 9 March 2026. (1) Mr Robertson, after reduction of 25% for the plea of guilty and taking into account the s 16BA offence, Sequence 8, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 9 years, to commence 10 March 2022 and expire 9 March 2031, with a non-parole period of 4 years and six months to commence 10 March 2022. (2) The first date you will be eligible for parole will be 9 September 2026. Catchwords: CRIME — Drug offences — Commonwealth offences — Import/Export border-controlled prohibited plant or drug – Significance of guilty plea in the context of 'ANOM' litigation – Investors in consignment of commercial quantity of heroin and methamphetamine – Strong subjective cases EVIDENCE – Admissions – Criminal proceedings – Admissibility of evidence – Messages captured from the 'ANOM' messaging application Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 16A; s 16BA; s 17A(1) The Criminal Code (Cth) s 11.5(1); s 307.1(1); s 400.3(1) Cases Cited: Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 CD & Anor v Director of Public Prosecutions (SA) & Anor [2024] HCASL 297 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Garside [2016] VSCA 74 DPP v Fabriczy (2010) 30 VR 632 Giles-Adams v The King [2023] NSWCCA 122 Kim v The Queen [2016] VSCA 238 Lazarus v The King [2023] NSWCCA 214 Lee v R (Cth) [2024] NSWCCA 202 Ngo v The Queen [2017] WASCA 3 Question of Law Reserved (Nos 1 and 2 of 2023) [2024] SASCA 82 R v Howe [2017] QCA 7 R v Irwin [2019] NSWCCA 133 R v Kassir [2020] NSWCCA 88 R v King (1978) 24 ALR 346 R v Li (2010) 202 A Crim R 195 R v MJ [2023] NSWCCA 306 R v Nguyen; R v Pham (2010) 205 A Crim R 106 Totaan v The Queen (2022) 108 NSWLR 17 Tyler v R [2007] NSWCCA 247 Texts Cited: Troy Anderson, Commonwealth Criminal Law (3rd ed, 2022) Category: Sentence Parties: Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Michael Robertson (Co-Offender 1) Keiron Westwood (Co-Offender 2) Representation: Counsel: D New (Crown) S Buchen SC with J Caldwell (Co-Offender 1) P Strickland SC with R McMahon (Co-Offender 2)