LB v R [2019] NSWCCA 151

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: LB v R [2019] NSWCCA 151 Hearing dates: 12 June 2019 Date of orders: 12 July 2019 Decision date: 12 July 2019 Before: Payne JA at [1] Davies J at [2] Button JJ at [79] Decision: (1) Extend time for the filing of the Notice of Appeal to 25 January 2019.

(2) Grant leave to appeal.

(3) Dismiss the appeal. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – appeals – appeal against sentence – applicant sentenced after trial – applicant found guilty of two child sex offences contrary to ss 66A(1) and 61M(2) – two separate complainants – first complainant was the 8 year old sister of the applicant's then partner – second complainant was the 5 year old daughter of the applicant's then partner – touching and digital penetration – applicant sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 13 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years – whether the s 66A sentence incorporated factual error – where the sentencing judge made erroneous factual finding as to bleeding caused by the offending – finding only one of the considerations taken into account when assessing objective seriousness – whether the sentencing judge erroneously assessed the objective seriousness of the offending – whether the sentencing judge erred in the weight she afforded to the standard non-parole period – whether the sentencing judge erroneously found that the applicant could address his rehabilitation needs in custody – whether the sentencing judge failed to give adequate consideration to the causal role of substance addiction in the offending and the applicant's disadvantaged background – whether special circumstances should have been found – whether the sentence was manifestly excessive – no statistics or comparative cases were provided to support applicant's high-level assertion that the sentence was plainly unreasonable and unjust – significant degree of concurrency between two individual sentences – no manifest excess found – appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ss 61M, 66A Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) ss 10A, 44, 166 Cases Cited: Jiang v R [2010] NSWCCA 277 Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120 R v Fidow [2004] NSWCCA 172 R v Qutami [2001] NSWCCA 353; (2001) 127 A Crim R 369 TS v R [2007] NSWCCA 194 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: LB (Applicant) Crown (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: C Doosey (Applicant) K Jeffreys (Respondent)