Regina v Van-Oostveen [2001] NSWCCA 288

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : Regina v Van-Oostveen [2001] NSWCCA 288 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60507/00 HEARING DATE(S) : 13 July 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 2 August 2001

PARTIES : Crown - Respondent Stephanie Marie Van-Oostveen - Applicant JUDGMENT OF : Simpson J at 1; Sperling J at 35

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 00/21/0022 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Nield DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : D M Woodburne - Crown SOLICITORS : S E O'Connor - Crown L Goldberg - Applicant CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - appeal against sentence - whether manifestly excessive - supplying a prohibited drug - whether findings of fact open on the evidence - plea of guilty - utilitarian value - contrition. Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 LEGISLATION CITED : Criminal Appeal Act 1912 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 CASES CITED: R v Thomson and Houlton [2000] 49 NSWCCA; NSWLR 383 DECISION : Application for leave to appeal granted; appeal allowed, sentence quashed; in lieu thereof, the applicant be sentenced to imprisonment for four years, with a non-parole period of two years to commence on 1 October 1999.

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60507/00

SIMPSON J SPERLING J

2 August 2001

REGINA v Stephanie Maria VAN-OOSTVEEN Judgment

SIMPSON J : 1 In these proceedings the applicant seeks leave to appeal against a sentence imposed upon her in the District Court on 27 July 2000 following her plea of guilty to a charge of supplying a prohibited drug (heroin) contrary to s 25(1) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 ("the Act"). By reason of the quantity of the drug involved the applicant was liable to a maximum penalty of imprisonment for fifteen years and/or a fine of two thousand penalty units ($220,000). She was sentenced to imprisonment for five years with a non-parole period of two and a half years. The sentencing judge ordered that the sentence commence on 1 October 1999, the date of the offence, and the date the applicant was arrested.