R v Jason PROUD [2002] NSWCCA 219

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : R v Jason PROUD [2002] NSWCCA 219 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60787/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 24/05/2002 JUDGMENT DATE : 24 May 2002

PARTIES : REGINA v Jason James PROUD JUDGMENT OF : Dowd J at 1; Smart AJ at 34

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 01/31/0331 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Armitage J OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Mr P G Ingram - Crown Mr A P Cook - Applicant SOLICITORS : S.E. O' Connor - Crown Legal Aid Commission -Applicant CATCHWORDS : Appeal against severity of sentence - matter taken into account-need to find error-need to find appropriate sentence Crimes Act 1900 LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Criminal Appeal Act 1912 R v Brown (2000) NSWCCA 428 Cameron v The Queen (2002) HCA 6 R v Henry 46 NSWLR 346 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499 CASES CITED: Pearce v The Queen (1998) 72 ALJR 1416 R v Ponfield (1999) 48 NSWLR 327 R v Sharma (2002) NSWCCA 142 R v Simpson (2000) NSWCCA 534 R v Thompson and Houlten (2000) 49 NSWLR 383 DECISION : Leave to appeal granted - Appeal dismissed

- 11 -IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60787/01

DOWD J SMART AJ

24 MAY 2002 R v Jason James PROUD Judgment 1 DOWD J: The applicant sought leave to appeal against sentences imposed by Armitage DCJ on 15 November 2001, for a count of break, enter and steal, an offence contrary to s112 of the Crimes Act 1900 ( "the Act"), four matters also in breach of s112 of the Act, taken into account on a Form I, pursuant to s33 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. The maximum penalty for an offence under s112 of the Act is fourteen years imprisonment. 2 The applicant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a six-year term of imprisonment for the offence for which he stood for sentence, His Honour the Learned Sentencing Judge taking into account the four matters on the Form I. The sentence commenced on 10 July 2001, to expire on 9 July 2007, with a non-parole period of four years and six months, to expire 9 January 2006. 3 The offence for which the applicant stood for sentence was committed on 26 July 2000, at Charlestown in the Newcastle region, between 1pm and 4pm. The applicant gained entry to a private home unit owned by a sixty-eight-year-old woman, by smashing the toilet window with a rock. On accessing the premises, the applicant went into the bedroom, punched a hole in the base of the bedside table drawer, which had been locked, and stole cash held in three small red tins, being an amount of $40,000, this being the life savings of the victim and money she had received from her husband upon his death. 4 The four offences on the Form I occurred between September 2000, and March 2001. The first offence occurred on 26 September 2000 when the applicant broke into premises at North Belmont by smashing a glass panel in a door and stole property worth between $14,000 and $15,000. 5 The second offence occurred on 15 November 2000, when the applicant broke into a private house at Swansea by kicking in the back door and thereupon stole property to the value of some $10,000. 6 The third offence on the Form I occurred on 30 December 2000, when the applicant broke into a house at Mount Hutton by forcing the door open and stole property to the value of $10,000. 7 The fourth Form I offence occurred on 3 March 2000, when the applicant smashed the glass panel of the front door of a house in Mount Hutton and stole property worth $7000. 8 It is extraordinary that such large sums of money are kept in people's private homes.