R v Hetherington [2016] NSWCCA 165

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: R v Hetherington [2016] NSWCCA 165 Hearing dates: 1 August 2016 Decision date: 22 August 2016 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL at [1] Button J at [2] N Adams J at [105] Decision: (1) Appeal allowed. (2) The sentence imposed in the District Court on 6 May 2016 is quashed. (3) The respondent, Paul Hetherington, is sentenced to a non-parole period of 1 year and 6 months to date from 6 May 2016. That will be followed by a parole period of 1 year and 6 months, which will expire on 5 May 2019. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – Crown appeal against sentence – armed robbery with a dangerous weapon – handgun – whether objective gravity of offence was at the lower end of the range of seriousness – whether the sentencing judge erred in use of sentencing statistics and comparable cases – whether it was open to find exceptional circumstances – whether sentence was manifestly inadequate – appeal allowed – respondent resentenced Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 94, 97(1), 97(2) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 5, 50(1) Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), ss 4, 4D Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 (NSW), Sch 1 Cases Cited: Bao v R [2016] NSWCCA 16 EF v R [2015] NSWCCA 3 Mulato v Regina [2006] NSWCCA 282 R v Henry [1999] NSWCCA 111; 46 NSWLR 346 R v Readman (1990) 47 A Crim R 181 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Regina Paul Hetherington Representation: Counsel: D Kell with M Pulsford (Appellant) A Francis with A Chhabra (Respondent)