Yeung v R [2018] NSWCCA 52

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Yeung v R [2018] NSWCCA 52 Hearing dates: 21 February 2018 Decision date: 28 March 2018 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL at [1] Simpson JA at [2] McCallum J at [3] Decision: Leave to appeal granted; appeal dismissed Catchwords: CRIME – sentencing – requirement to assess the objective seriousness of the offence – distinguished from obsolete practice of fixing the offence on a point along a line by reference to a hypothetical mid-range offence – whether, reading the sentencing judgment fairly as a whole, there was a failure to make the required assessment

CRIME – sentencing – accumulation – where offender subject to another sentence at the time sentence is passed – whether s 55(1) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) creates a presumption in favour of concurrency

CRIME – sentencing – whether finding of special circumstances reflected in structure of sentence

CRIME – sentencing – parity – whether applicant has justifiable sense of grievance – disparity explained by different charges and differently structured sentences Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 54A, 55(1) Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), ss 24(1), 24(2), 25(2), 25A(1) Cases Cited: Badans v R [2012] NSWCCA 97 Callaghan v R (2006) 160 A Crim R 145; [2006] NSWCCA 58 Khoury v R (2011) 209 A Crim R 509; [2011] NSWCCA 118 Lawson v R [2012] NSWCCA 56 Markarian v The Queen (2005) 228 CLR 357; [2005] HCA 25 Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120; (2011) 212 A Crim R 254; [2011] HCA 39 R v Cage [2006] NSWCCA 304 R v Van Ryn [2016] NSWCCA 1 R v Way (2004) 60 NSWLR 168; [2004] NSWCCA 131 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Gilbert Wai Kit Yeung (applicant) Regina (respondent) Representation: Counsel: M Ramage QC (applicant) E Balodis (Crown/respondent)