Regina v Michael John Walker [2002] NSWCCA 178

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : Regina v Michael John Walker [2002] NSWCCA 178 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60619/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 15/5/02 JUDGMENT DATE : 15 May 2002

PARTIES : Regina v Michael John Walker JUDGMENT OF : O'Keefe J at 1; Smart AJ at 21

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Hock DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Ms Cox- Applicant Mr R Hulme - Crown Mr D J Humphreys Legal Aid Commission SOLICITORS : Sydney - Applicant

S E O'Connor, Sydney - Crown CATCHWORDS : Appeal - Application for leave to appeal against sentence - Robbery whilst armed with an offensive weapon - Guideline judgment - applicability - Antecedent criminal history - Statistics LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes Act 1900 s 97(1) Regina v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346 CASES CITED: Regina v Jurisic (1998) 45 NSWLR 209 Veen v The Queen (No 2) (1997-1998) 164 CLR 465 DECISION : Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60619/01

O'Keefe J Smart AJ

15 May 2002 Regina v Michael John Walker Judgment 1 O'Keefe J:

BACKGROUND 2 This is an application by Michael John Walker ("the Applicant") for leave to appeal against a sentence imposed in the District Court following a plea of guilty to a charge of robbery whilst armed with an offensive weapon contrary to s 97(1) of the Crimes Act 1900. The maximum penalty for the offence is imprisonment for 20 years. The Applicant asked the Court to take into account an offence of using a prohibited weapon, namely a replica pistol. However as this was the weapon referred to in the charge to which the Applicant pleaded guilty, the judge took the view that the facts relating to the matter on the Schedule were entirely subsumed by the facts of the armed robbery. The sentence imposed was imprisonment for six years from 3 August 2001, with a non-parole period of three years and six months, so that the earliest date on which the applicant would become eligible to be released on parole is 2 February 2005. 3 The application for Leave to Appeal is based upon one ground only, namely that the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive. There was no challenge to the facts found by the sentencing judge, nor was it suggested that any element relevant to the fixing of the term of the sentence had been omitted from consideration.