Sinkovich v Regina [2011] NSWCCA 90

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Sinkovich v Regina [2011] NSWCCA 90 Hearing dates: Tuesday 5 April 2011 Decision date: 15 April 2011 Before: MACFARLAN JA at 1 HOEBEN J at 2 GARLING J at 75 Decision: Leave to appeal is granted. The appeal is dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence appeal - supply prohibited drug being not less than a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine - applicant convicted after trial - need for trial judge to make findings of fact beyond reasonable doubt - assessment of objective seriousness of offence - limited effect of sentencing statistics - parity principle - applicant and other offender with only one offence in common - other offender convicted of more offences but with same sentence - objective test of legitimate grievance - application of parity principle inappropriate. Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, 1999 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 Firearms Act 1996 Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 Cases Cited: Ali v R [2010] NSWCCA 35 Ayoub, Omran v R; El Masri, Ali v R [2010] NSWCCA 196 at [58] Baleiovalau v R [2009] NSWCCA 153 Bell v R; Jelisovac v R [2009] NSWCCA 206 Clinton v R [2009] NSWCCA 276 at [35] Davis v R [2009] NSWCCA 279 at [21] England v R, Phanith v R [2009] NSWCCA 274 at [49] Fogg v R [2011] NSWCCA 1 at [59-60] Furia v R [2010] NSWCCA 326 Gurney v R; Willetts v R [2011] NSWCCA 48 at [83] Holloway v R [2011] NSWCCA 23 at [85] Lewins v R [2007] NSWCCA 189 at [7], Lowe v The Queen (1984) 154 CLR 606 at 194, 623-4 Ma & Pham v R [2007] NSWCCA 240 at [91] Markarian v The Queen [2005] HCA 25, (2005) 228 CLR 357 at [33] Nguyen v R [2008] NSWCCA 308 at [37] Postiglione v The Queen (1997) 189 CLR 295 R v Bloomfield (1998) 101 A Crim R 404 R v Cheikh [2004] NSWCCA 448 at [50] R v Edwards (1996) 60 A Crim R 510 R v F (2002) 132 A Crim R 308 R v George [2004] NSWCCA 247 at [48] R v House (1936) 55 CLR 499 at 504-5 R v Mahmud [2010] NSWCCA 219 at [80] R v Martin [2005] NSWCCA 381 at [11] R (Cth) v Nguyen; R (Cth) v Nguyen [2010] NSWCCA 331 R v Visconti (1982) 2 NSWLR 104 R v Way [2004] NSWCCA 131, (2004) 60 NSWLR 168 R v Wei Pan [2005] NSWCCA 114 Williams v R [2010] NSWCCA 15 at [23 Ryan v The Queen (2001) 206 CLR 267 Van Can Ha v R [2008] NSWCCA 141 at [43] Category: Principal judgment Parties: Frank John Sinkovich - Applicant Regina - Respondent Crown Representation: Counsel: Mr G Nicholson QC - Applicant Mr C Maxwell SC - Respondent Crown Solicitors: William Whitby Lawyers - Applicant S Kavanagh, Solicitor for Public Prosecutions - Respondent Crown File Number(s): 2009/915 Decision under appeal Date of Decision: 2009-11-06 00:00:00 Before: Conlon DCJ File Number(s): 2009/11/0218