Firth v Regina [2018] NSWCCA 144

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Firth v Regina [2018] NSWCCA 144 Hearing dates: 6 June 2018 Date of orders: 17 September 2018 Decision date: 17 September 2018 Before: Simpson AJA at [1] Bellew J at [2] Wilson J at [3] Decision: (1) Leave to appeal granted. (2) Appeal allowed. (3) Quash the sentence imposed in the District Court on 14 July 2017 with respect to counts 1, 3, and 11. (4) In lieu, sentence the applicant to an aggregate term of imprisonment pursuant to s 53A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) of 5 years and 4 months, to date from 17 October 2016, expiring on 16 February 2022, with a non-parole period of 3 years, expiring on 16 October 2019. (5) The indicative sentences for counts 1, 3 and 11 are: (a) Count 1: 3 years 6 months imprisonment; (b) Count 3: taking into account the offences on the Form 1 document: 12 months imprisonment; (c) Count 11: taking into account the offence on the Form 1 document: 2 years imprisonment. (6) The sentences imposed in the Local Court the subject of the appeal against severity are to be remitted to the District Court of NSW, to be dealt with according to law. Catchwords: CRIME – SENTENCE – appeal against sentence – offences of aggravated break enter steal and others – further offences taken into account – question of the relevance of mental illness to sentencing exercise – applicant from a deprived background – significance of childhood deprivation to sentence imposed – adequacy of reasons provided by sentencing judge – appeal from the Local Court included in aggregate sentence imposed for offences on indictment – aggregate sentence exceeded jurisdictional limit for Local Court – manifest excess Legislation Cited: Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Cases Cited: AMZ v R [2013] NSWCCA 6 Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571; [2013] HCA 37 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 205 A Crim R 1; (2010) 79 NSWLR 1; [2010] NSWCCA 194 Douglass v The Queen [2012] HCA 34; 86 ALJR 1086 Pettitt v Dunkley [1971] 1 NSWLR 376 R v Keyte (2000) 78 SASR 68 R v Thomson; R v Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383; [2000] NSWCCA 183 Veen (No 2) [1998] HCA 14; (1998) 164 CLR 465 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Matthew Paul Firth - Applicant Regina - Respondent Representation: Counsel: Mr A O'Neil for the Applicant Mr E Balodis for the Respondent