Morton v R [2014] NSWCCA 8

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Morton v R [2014] NSWCCA 8 Hearing dates: 13/02/2014 Decision date: 20 February 2014 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL at [1] Schmidt J at [55] Barr AJ at [56] Decision: Leave to appeal against sentence granted but appeal dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence appeal - offence of knowingly take part in the supply of a prohibited drug (cocaine) - whether error in the assessment of the discount for the plea of guilty - principles to be applied when assessing the utilitarian value of a plea of guilty - whether applicant bound by concessions made by counsel in sentence proceedings - parity - difference in roles of offenders - no basis for a justifiable sense of grievance - whether sentence manifestly excessive. Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 - s166 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 - s25(1) Cases Cited: Hili v The Queen; Jones v The Queen [2010] HCA 45; 242 CLR 520 Loader v R; Dunn v R [2013] NSWCCA 215 Markarian v The Queen [2005] HCA 25; 228 CLR 357 R v AB [2011] NSWCCA 229 R v Cardoso [2003] NSWCCA 15 R v Robert Borkowski [2009] NSWCCA 102;195 A Crim R 1 R v Stambolis [2006] NSWCCA 56 R v Thomson; R v Houlton [2000] NSWCCA 309; 49 NSWLR 383 Tatana v R [2006] NSWCCA 398 Wong v R [2001] HCA 64; 207 CLR 584 Zreika v R [2012] NSWCCA 44 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ross Leslie Morton - Applicant Regina - Respondent Crown Representation: Counsel: Mr H White - Applicant Ms S Herbert - Respondent Crown Solicitors: SE O'Connor, Legal Aid NSW - Applicant S Kavanagh, Solicitor for Public Prosecutions - Respondent Crown File Number(s): 2010/265321 Decision under appeal Date of Decision: 2012-12-10 00:00:00 Before: English DCJ File Number(s): 2010/265321