Battersby v R [2018] NSWCCA 141

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Battersby v R [2018] NSWCCA 141 Hearing dates: 4 May 2018 Decision date: 16 July 2018 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL [1] Walton J at [2] Button J at [105] Decision: 1. Leave to appeal against sentence granted.

2. Appeal allowed.

3. Pursuant to s 53A(1) of the Sentencing Act, an aggregate term of imprisonment of 12 years is imposed which commences on 16 November 2015 and concludes on 15 November 2027 with a non-parole period of 8 years concluding on 15 November 2023.

4. Pursuant to s 53A(2)(b) of the Sentencing Act, the indicative sentences in that respect are as follows:

(1) sequence 1: 10 years with a non-parole period of 6 years and 6 months;

(2) sequence 2: 3 years; and

(3) sequence 3: 5 years with a non-parole period of 3 years. Catchwords: SENTENCING APPEAL – leave to appeal –convictions for large commercial supply of ecstasy and cocaine and proceeds of crime – error in maximum penalty taken into account for proceeds of crime offence –error in maximum penalty vitiated the exercise of sentencing discretion –resentencing required – whether error to find applicant was "well above lowest rung" of drug trafficking hierarchy – evaluation of objective seriousness and offenders role – onus where full nature of criminal enterprise not known – role of offender inferred from quantity of drugs – no error in discretionary sentencing judgment regarding evaluation of offender's role – parity ground not presently available – reliance on comparable sentences and JIRS statistics – resentencing Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) Cases Cited: AB v R [2014] NSWCCA 31 Andreata v R [2015] NSWCCA 239 Ayik v R [2013] NSWCCA 119 Campbell v R [2018] NSWCCA 17 Chong v R [2017] NSWCCA 185 Coetzee v R [2007] NSWCCA 12 Elchiekh v R [2016] NSWCCA 225 Kentwell v The Queen (2014) 252 CLR 601; [2014] HCA 37 Koh v R [2013] NSWCCA 287 Lee v R [2016] NSWCCA 146 Lehn v R (2016) 78 MVR 353; [2016] NSWCCA 255 Mooney v R [2016] NSWCCA 303 Newtown v R [2009] NSWCCA 128 Nguyen v R [2014] NSWCCA 16 Nguyen v R [2017] NSWCCA 39 Potts v R [2017] NSWCCA 10 R v Lao [2003] NSWCCA 315 R v Niketic [2002] NSWCCA 425 Radi v R [2013] NSWCCA 278 Salafia v R [2015] NSWCCA 141 See v R [2017] NSWCCA 165 Sutton v R [2016] NSWCCA 249 Why v R [2017] NSWCCA 101 Zaky v R (Cth) [2017] NSWCCA 141 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Jonathan Battersby (Applicant) The Crown Representation: Counsel: S Odgers SC (Applicant) B Hatfield (Crown)