Forster v Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] NSWSC 458

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Forster v Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] NSWSC 458 Hearing dates: 10 August 2016 Decision date: 20 April 2017 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: Pursuant to r 51B.6(2)(a) of the Supreme Court Rules 1970 (NSW), time for instituting the appeal extended to 1 July 2015; leave granted to amend the Summons to include proposed ground 6; leave to appeal on grounds 2 and 5 granted; leave to appeal on grounds 3 and 4 refused; plaintiff's conviction for habitual consorting entered on 21 April 2015 set aside. Catchwords: CRIME – habitual consorting contrary to s 93X of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) – where prosecution relied on conversations in the street between the appellant and convicted offenders known to him – consideration of proper construction of the term "consorts" in s 93X – whether an analysis that the encounters were either chance encounters or consorting revealed error – whether engagement in conversation following a chance encounter in the street could evince an intentional seeking of companionship of the kind proscribed by the section – whether evidence capable of establishing the elements of the offence Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 93X, s 93X(2) Crimes Amendment (Consorting and Organised Crime) Act 2012 (NSW) Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), s 52, s 53 Supreme Court Rules 1970 (NSW) Cases Cited: Coleman v Power (2004) 220 CLR 1; [2004] HCA 39 Dias v O'Sullivan [1949] SASR 195 Green v R; Quinn v R [2011] HCA 49 Johanson v Dixon (1979) 143 CLR 373 Poidevin v Semaan [2013] NSWCA 334 R v Hughes(2000) 202 CLR 535; [2000] HCA 22 Tajjour v New South Wales (2014) 254 CLR 508; [2014] HCA 35 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Charlie Maxwell Forster (plaintiff) Director of Public Prosecutions (defendant) Representation: Counsel: D Randle (plaintiff) JE Davidson (defendant)