Gray v R [2018] NSWCCA 39

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Gray v R [2018] NSWCCA 39 Hearing dates: 5 March 2018 Date of orders: 06 July 2018 Decision date: 06 July 2018 Before: Macfarlan JA [1]; Johnson J [2]; Campbell J [3] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal and allow the appeal.

(2) Quash the sentence passed in the District Court on 16 December 2016 and instead sentence the applicant to an aggregate term of imprisonment under s 53A Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), having a non-parole period of 3 years and 3 months commencing on 16 December 2016 and expiring on 15 March 2020 with a balance of term of 1 year and 1 month commencing on 16 March 2020 and expiring on 15 April 2021.

(3) For the purpose of s 206A Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW), the applicant is disqualified from holding a driver's licence for a period of 18 months.

(4) The applicant will be first eligible for release on parole at the expiration of the non-parole period on 16 March 2020. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - appeal against sentence - break and enter with intent to commit serious indictable offence - break and enter and commit serious indictable offence - guilty pleas - whether the sentencing judge erred in his assessment of objective seriousness of the property offences - individually assessed each offence at the low level - Crown conceded error - each offence being treated as aggravating by reference to s 21A(2)(m) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) - merely a degree of planning - significant value - financial gain - offending occurred on conditional liberty - significantly aggravating - no special circumstances - House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499 error - sentencing discretion miscarried - re-exercise - lesser sentence warranted - proportionality - aggregate sentence - totality - partial accumulation - licence disqualification - reduced period