3 August 2011

GREEN v THE QUEEN; QUINN v THE QUEEN

On 24 June 2011, the High Court heard appeals by Shane Quinn and Brett Green against sentences imposed upon them by the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales in respect of offences arising out of an enterprise involving the cultivation of cannabis plants.  

Those sentences were imposed following appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeal by the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions ("DPP") against the sentences imposed on Quinn and Green by the sentencing judge.  The DPP did not appeal against the sentence imposed on Kodie Taylor, another participant in the enterprise.  The sentencing judge had calculated the sentences imposed on Quinn and Green partly by reference to their level of involvement relative to that of Taylor, whom the same judge had sentenced two and a half months earlier.  The Court of Criminal Appeal, by majority, allowed the DPP's appeals and increased the sentences of both Quinn and Green.

Today the High Court allowed the appeals by Quinn and Green and made orders reinstating the sentences originally imposed by the sentencing judge.

The Court will publish its reasons for decision at a later date.

•	This statement is not intended to be a substitute for the reasons of the High Court or to be used in any later consideration of the Court’s reasons.