Achurch v. The Queen

Lower Court Judgment

22/05/2013 Supreme Court of New South Wales (Court of Criminal Appeal) (Bathurst CJ, McClellan JA, Johnson J, Garling J, Bellew J)

[2011] NSWCCA 186

[2013] NSWCCA 117

Catchwords

Criminal law – Sentencing – Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) (“the Act”) – Appellant convicted of drugs offences in 2008 sentenced to non-parole period of 6 years – Crown appeal against sentence successful and non-parole period increased to 13 years – Court of Criminal Appeal held trial judge had erred in approach to sentencing – Court of Criminal Appeal issued new sentence in line with R v Way; R v Sellars; and R v Knight – Two months after successful crown appeal High Court handed down judgment holding that Way; Sellars; and Knight wrongly decided – Whether sentence imposed contrary to law per s 43(1)(a) of the Act – Whether appropriate that s 43(1)(a) be used as proxy for an appeal.

Short Particulars