R v PAPADOPOULOS [2000] NSWCCA 477

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : R v PAPADOPOULOS [2000] NSWCCA 477 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60496/00 HEARING DATE(S) : 22/11/2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 22 November 2000

PARTIES : REGINA v Manthos PAPADOPOULOS JUDGMENT OF : Barr J at 1; Carruthers AJ at 16

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 00/11/0101 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Shadbolt DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Crown: WG Dawe QC Applicant: IS Lloyd QC SOLICITORS : Crown: SE O'Connor Applicant: Jack Rigg

DECISION : Leave to appeal granted; appeal dismissed

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60496/00

BARR J CARRUTHERS AJ

Wednesday, 22 November 2000 REGINA v Manthos PAPADOPOULOS JUDGMENT

1 BARR J: Manthos Papadopoulos seeks leave to appeal against a sentence imposed upon him in the District Court. The applicant pleaded guilty before Shadbolt DCJ to one count of bribing a police officer. At the same time he asked his Honour to take into account one further offence of the same kind. His Honour took that matter into account and sentenced the applicant to imprisonment for two years with a non-parole period of nine months. The maximum custodial penalty for the offence is seven years' imprisonment. 2 The applicant was the operator of a nightclub at Kings Cross. He had permission to operate his business at his premises but on conditions that spruikers were not permitted beyond the street alignment of the premises and that the premises closed at 3am. Other nightclubs in the district were not so restricted and the applicant saw himself as at a resulting disadvantage. On a number of occasions those conditions were breached and the police took court action. 3 In June 1998 the applicant lodged an appeal in the Land and Environment Court to have the restrictions removed. 4 The applicant was not prepared to wait for the results of that application, however, and made arrangements for a private meeting with a police officer. The meeting was held and the applicant asked for a meeting under the auspices of the police with all nightclub operators in the vicinity of the applicant's nightclub, for representations to be made to the South Sydney Council to have the restrictions on his licence removed and for there to be fewer prosecutions for breaches of the conditions of his licence. Having made those requests he handed the police officer $1,000 in notes. 5 The matter taken into account was a further bribe of $500 of the same police officer several days later. 6 It was submitted that the sentence must be seen as manifestly excessive in view of the plea of guilty, the applicant's clear adult record, his age - twenty-seven years at the time of the offences - his strong family ties and his real prospects of rehabilitation. It was submitted that his Honour erred in failing to consider all possible alternatives to an immediate custodial term of imprisonment. It was submitted that his Honour erred in his assessment of the objective seriousness of the offence and gave undue weight to the need for specific and general deterrence, particularly in holding that the public's proper expectations and the need for general and specific deterrence must outweigh the applicant's good record. 7 It was further submitted that his Honour gave insufficient weight to the following factors: