R v Richard Fojt [2011] NSWCCA 20

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: R v Richard Fojt [2011] NSWCCA 20 Hearing dates: 10 December 2010 Decision date: 25 February 2011 Before: Simpson J at 1 Blanch J at 2 Garling J at 3 Decision: (1) Appeal allowed. (2) Set aside the sentence imposed in the District Court of NSW by English DCJ on 9 July 2010. (3) In lieu thereof, Mr Fojt is sentenced to a non-parole period of 3 years and 9 months commencing on 22 September 2009. He is sentenced to a balance of the term of 1 year and 9 months. The entire sentence will expire on 21 March 2015. (4) The first date upon which Mr Fojt will be eligible for release is 21 June 2013. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - Appeal against sentence - Appeal by Crown - Aggravated break, enter and commit serious indictable offence (wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm) - Reckless wounding - Where the offender engaged in a violent knife attack on the victims in their home - Where numerous people tried repeatedly to stop the offender from proceeding to the home of his victims - Whether the sentencing judge failed to determine the objective seriousness of the offences - Whether the sentencing judge erred in determining the objective seriousness to be below mid-range - Principles for the accumulation or concurrency of sentences - Whether sentence was manifestly inadequate. Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 Crimes Act 1900 Cases Cited: Cahyadi v R [2007] NSWCCA 1 Hili v The Queen; Jones v The Queen [2010] HCA 45 (8 December 2010) Mirza v R [2007] NSWCCA 248 Mulato v R [2006] NSWCCA 282 R v Knight; R v Biuvanua [2007] NSWCCA 283 R v McEvoy [2010] NSWCCA 110 R v MMK (2006) 164 ACrimR 481 R v Wilson [2005] NSWCCA 219 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Regina (Crown) Richard Fojt (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr Pickering (Crown) Ms Burgess (Respondent) Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (Crown) Legal Aid Commission of NSW (Respondent) File Number(s): CCA 2009/211871 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9101 Citation: R v Richard Fojt Date of Decision: 2010-07-09 00:00:00 Before: English DCJ File Number(s): 2009/211871