R v CASSIDY [2010] NSWDC 323

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v CASSIDY [2010] NSWDC 323

HEARING DATE(S): 22 April 2010 EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 22 April 2010

JURISDICTION: Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: The offender is sentenced to imprisonment consisting of a non-parole period of ten and a half years and a head sentence of fourteen years.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Intentionally destroy number of motor vehicles and a dwelling house with the intent it would endanger the life of a named person. - Complete absence of remorse.

PARTIES: The Crown Sean Lindsay CASSIDY

FILE NUMBER(S): DC 2009/218239

COUNSEL: Mr J Booth - Offender

SOLICITORS: Director of Public Prosecutions Legal Aid Commission

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: Sean Lindsay Cassidy appears today for sentence, having committed a most serious offence indeed. He pleaded guilty this morning to an offence of having intentionally destroyed a number of motor vehicles and a dwelling house with the intent it would endanger the life of a named person. The maximum penalty for that offence is twenty-five years imprisonment. That in itself reflects the seriousness with which I should treat Mr Cassidy's misconduct.

2 Although it was a case where he pleaded guilty today on indictment, it is accepted by the crown that in fact the offender entered his plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity in the Local Court, on indictment being required because of a defect in the committal papers. Accordingly, the sentence I will ultimately impose upon Mr Cassidy is 25 per cent less than it would otherwise have been.

3 The offences arose out of a neighbourhood dispute involving a Mr Genigzakis and a number of other people who lived in the area where he lived. It was Mr Genigzakis' habit to have a number of unregistered motor vehicles parked around his property.