Regina v Sewell [1999] NSWCCA 307

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal CITATION : Regina v Sewell [1999] NSWCCA 307 revised - 12/10/99 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60109/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 27/9/99 JUDGMENT DATE : 27 September 1999

PARTIES : Regina Thomas Joseph Sewell JUDGMENT OF : Grove J at 11; Sully J at 1; Greg James J at 12

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 96/21/0150 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER : Karpin DCJ

COUNSEL : M.M. Cunneen - Crown S.R. Norrish QC - Applicant SOLICITORS : S.E. O'Connor - Crown J. Baptie - Applicant CATCHWORDS : ACTS CITED : Crimes Act 1900 DECISION : (i) that leave be granted to the applicant to appeal against each of his convictions; (2) that the convictions be quashed; (3) that in relation to each of the 20 matters charged against the applicant there be an order for a trial; (4) that for more abundant caution, the sentences passed consequent upon conviction be themselves quashed.

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL

60109/99

GROVE J SULLY J GREG JAMES J

27 September 1999

REGINA v Thomas Joseph SEWELL

JUDGMENT

1 SULLY J: On 9 November 1998 Mr Thomas Joseph Sewell, the applicant, pleaded guilty to 20 charges laid against him under s.300(2) of the Crimes Act 1900. 2 On 26 February 1999 the applicant stood for sentence in the Parramatta District Court before her Honour Judge Karpin. Her Honour formally convicted the applicant on each of the 20 matters, and imposed in respect of them various sentences of which it is sufficient to say for present purposes that the greater number of them involved a not insignificant term of full-time custody.

3 The applicant seeks - to put the matter simply - to go behind his pleas of guilty. His point, put simply, is that the entering of the pleas, and the proceedings consequent upon them, have entailed a miscarriage of justice in the sense that the effect of what has happened has prevented him from putting before a jury a possible defence of substance to all twenty of the charges preferred against him.