Snounou v Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) [2019] NSWCCA 167

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Snounou v Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) [2019] NSWCCA 167 Hearing dates: 12 July 2019 Date of orders: 12 July 2019 Decision date: 26 July 2019 Before: Leeming JA at [1] R A Hulme J at [2] Davies J at [3] Decision: Bail refused Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – bail – bail application – applicant charged with a number of drug-related offences including one show cause offence – applicant the director of a commercial cleaning supplies business which imported large quantities of various precursors and GBL – applicant arrested and remanded in custody – applicant applied for bail at the Local Court – bail refused – two further bail applications made at the Supreme Court – bail refused on both occasions – further application for a new hearing in Court of Criminal Appeal – s 75 Bail Act 2013 (NSW) – whether the applicant could show cause – ability to prepare for trial – applicant to be provided a laptop in custody – strength of the Crown case in relation to the show cause offence – evidence put forward on the present application did not indicate a strong Crown case for that offence – where there was to be a delay of two and a half years between arrest and trial – remand unacceptable in the circumstances – cause shown – whether the applicant poses an unacceptable risk – whether the applicant may interfere with witnesses – no evidence to suggest a real risk of such interference – whether the applicant will continue to commit serious offences – applicant has prior related convictions and ongoing drug issues – serious bail concern – whether the applicant would fail to appear – strong Crown case in relation to the other offences and high likelihood of custodial sentence if convicted – applicant's family reside in Lebanon – no extradition treaty with Lebanon – provision of surety and electronic monitoring fail to mitigate these serious bail concerns – bail refused Legislation Cited: Bail Act 2013 (NSW) ss 31, 67, 75 Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) ss 300.2, 307.1, 307.13 Criminal Code Regulations 2002 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) s 24A Cases Cited: Shalala v R [2012] NSWSC 351 Trinh v R [2016] NSWCCA 110 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Michael Snounou (Applicant) Crown (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: In person (Applicant) J Paingakulam (Respondent)