Clarke v R [2015] NSWCCA 232

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Clarke v R [2015] NSWCCA 232 Hearing dates: 5 June 2015 Date of orders: 28 August 2015 Decision date: 28 August 2015 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Garling J at [39]; Hamill J at [124] Decision: 1. Leave to appeal granted. 2. Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL – appeal – sentence – offence of cultivating prohibited plant in large commercial quantity – guilty plea – disputed question of fact as to whether all items located were "plants" – whether sentencing judge erred in finding as to number of "plants" – proper scope of appeal against sentence - whether finding of fact open to sentencing judge – whether sentencing judge failed to properly take into account the applicant's subjective circumstances – whether sentence manifestly excessive Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 21A, 54A, 54B Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 5, 5F, 6 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 33 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), ss 3, 23, 33, 36Z, 43; Sch 1 Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic), s 71 Cases Cited: AB v The Queen [1999] HCA 46; (1999) 198 CLR 111 AB v R [2014] NSWCCA 339 Allesch v Maunz [2000] HCA 40; (2000) 203 CLR 172 Aoun v R [2011] NSWCCA 284 Baxter v The Queen [2007] NSWCCA 237; 173 A Crim R 284 Camm v R [2009] NSWCCA 141 CO v R [2011] NSWCCA 148 Colville v R [2015] NSWCCA 149 Crawford v R [2013] NSWCCA 269 Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) v JG [2010] NSWCCA 222; 220 A Crim R 19 Filippou v The Queen [2015] HCA 29 Fleming v The Queen [1998] HCA 68; (1998) 197 CLR 250 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499 Kardoulias v R [2005] NSWCCA 456; 159 A Crim R 252 Kentwell v The Queen [2014] HCA 37; (2014) 252 CLR 601 Kyriakou v The Queen [1988] 9 Leg Rep SL 4 Lacey v Attorney-General (Qld) [2011] HCA 10; (2011) 242 CLR 573 M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487 Markarian v The Queen [2005] HCA 25; (2005) 228 CLR 351 Muldrock v R [2011] HCA39; (2011) 244 CLR 240 Peters v R [2013] NSWCCA 324 The Queen v Francis-Wright [2005] VSCA 79 The Queen v Olbrich (1999) 199 CLR 270; [1999] HCA 54 R v Clarke [2014] NSWDC 35 R v Ion (1996) 89 A Crim R 81 R v Khouzame [2000] NSWCCA 505 R v Kurtic (1996) 84 A Crim R 57 R v Kyriakou (1987) 29 A Crim R 50 R v Ly [2010] NSWDC 229 R v Merritt [2004] NSWCCA 19; 59 NSWLR 557 R v O'Donoghue (1988) 34 A Crim R 397 R v Simpson [2001] NSWCCA 534; (2001) 53 NSWLR 704 SBF v R [2009] NSWCCA 231; 198 A Crim R 219 Singer v Berghouse (1994) 181 CLR 201 Turnbull v Medical Board (NSW) [1976] 2 NSWLR 281 Victorian Stevedoring & General Contracting Co Pty Ltd v Dignan (1931) 46 CLR 73 Texts Cited: Filippou v The Queen [2015] HCATrans 104 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Joshua Jack Clarke (Applicant) Crown Representation: Counsel: G Bashir SC (Applicant) N Williams (Crown)