Regina v Trevor John Wilkins [2007] NSWDC 360

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: Regina v Trevor John Wilkins [2007] NSWDC 360

JUDGMENT DATE: 28 September 2007

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ at 1

DECISION: Sentenced to 7 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 months.

CATCHWORDS: Criminal law - Sentence appeal - Drive under the influence of alcohol or other drug - Bad record for drink driving offences - Protection of the community - Special circumstances

LEGISLATION CITED: s12(1)(a) Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 s51(1AA) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

PARTIES: Regina Trevor John Wilkins

FILE NUMBER(S): 07/52/0378

COUNSEL: Mr McCallum for the appellant

SOLICITORS: Ms Mudge for the NSW DPP

SENTENCE

1. I am sentencing a man with a poor driving record for offences of driving under the influence of alcohol. I am sentencing him for yet another offence of driving under the influence of alcohol. The case comes before me because it is an appeal.

2. Trevor John Wilkins was convicted after a hearing in the Local Court at Inverell on 13 August 2007. He had been charged with a number of driving offences, one of which was driving under the influence of alcohol on a road. That is an offence contrary to s 12(1)(a) of the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999. He was unsuccessful in defending the prosecution and the learned magistrate convicted him.

3. He was then sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 9 months with a non-parole period of 6 months. He was disqualified for holding a licence for the statutory period of 3 years. Mr McCallum, who appears before me for Mr Wilkins on this appeal, asks for either a suspended sentence or a reduced non-parole period.