Sinden v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2017] NSWSC 1719

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Sinden v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2017] NSWSC 1719 Hearing dates: 8 December 2017 Date of orders: 08 December 2017 Decision date: 08 December 2017 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Bellew J Decision: (1) To the extent necessary, the plaintiff is granted leave to appeal pursuant to s. 54(1) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW). (2) The appeal is allowed. (3) Pursuant to s. 55(1)(a) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), the conviction recorded against the plaintiff in the Wagga Wagga Local Court in respect of the offence of assault is set aside. Catchwords: Criminal Law – Appeal against conviction – Where plaintiff charged before the Local Court with assault occasioning actual bodily harm – Where back up charge laid of common assault – Reliance by the plaintiff upon self-defence – Where Magistrate found in respect of the principal charge that the prosecution had failed to negative self-defence beyond reasonable doubt – Where Magistrate then convicted the plaintiff of the back-up charge – Where Crown conceded error – Appeal allowed – Conviction set aside Legislation Cited: Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Michael Andrew Sinden – Plaintiff Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) – Defendant Representation: Counsel: J Styles (Solicitor) – Plaintiff B Baker - Defendant

Solicitors: Aboriginal Legal Service – Plaintiff Director of Public Prosecution (NSW) – Defendant File Number(s): 2017/241338 Publication restriction: Nil Decision under appeal Court or tribunal: Local Court of NSW Jurisdiction: Criminal Date of Decision: 23 February 2017 Before: Magistrate Crompton