NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 4) [2018] NSWSC 1

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 4) [2018] NSWSC 1 Hearing dates: 11 December 2017 Date of orders: 02 March 2018 Decision date: 02 March 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: (1) The Defendant, Matthew Geoffrey Rixon, is convicted of contempt of court. (2) The Defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 18 months commencing 14 February 2018 and expiring 13 August 2019 with a non-parole period of 12 months expiring 13 February 2019. (3) The Defendant is to pay the Plaintiff's costs of the proceedings on an indemnity basis. Catchwords: CONTEMPT OF COURT – sentencing – breach of consent orders preventing conduct with respect to residential building work – plea of guilty to knowingly breaching orders in five respects – contempt committed during period of suspended prison sentence imposed for a similar breach of the same orders – aggravating factors - no demonstration of remorse – high likelihood of reoffending – significance of both specific and general deterrence – no penalty other than fulltime imprisonment appropriate Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) Home Building Regulation 2014 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 2) [2014] NSWSC 431 Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No.3) [2014] NSWSC 1279 NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon [2015] NSWSC 956 Paccar Financial Pty Limited v Ian Menzies & Colleen Menzies (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 1622 R v Todd [1982] 2 NSWLR 517 The Prothonotary of Supreme Court of New South Wales v Battye [2017] NSWSC 48 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading (Plaintiff) Matthew Geoffrey Rixon (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: G Sarginson (Plaintiff) In person (Defendant)