Multiple Offences, Minimal Sentence

KN was charged for the following offences; ‘Drive conveyance taken without consent of owner’, contrary to section 154a(1)(B) Crimes Act 1900, ‘Drive motor vehicle during disqualification period’, contrary to section 54(1)(A) Road Transport Act 2013, ‘Possess unauthorised pistol’, contrary to section 7(1) Firearms Act 1996,  ‘Possess prohibited drug’, contrary to section 10(1) ‘Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985, ‘Dishonestly obtain property by deception’, contrary to section 192e(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900, two counts of ‘Larceny value <= $2,000, contrary to section 117 Crimes Act 1900 and ‘Destroy or damage property <= $2,000, contrary to section 195(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900. This was a substantial number of charges for KN.

Chris Cole represented KN in these matters at Liverpool Local Court. KN had two sets of charges Listed for Sentence. The first set of charges related to a break and enter and three further offences were taken into account on a Form 1, those being ‘Drive stolen conveyance’ and 2 x ‘Drive while disqualified’. The second set of matters related to the charges of ‘Possess firearm’, ‘Dishonestly obtain financial advantage’, ‘Possess prohibited drug’ and ‘Drive while disqualified’. His Honour sentenced KN to an aggregate sentence of 20 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 months backdated to time already spent in custody. This means KN will be eligible for release before Christmas this year.  

In addition, His Honour quashed all Habitual Traffic Offender Declarations, and imposed 12 months disqualification periods for each of the ‘Drive disqualified’ offences. KN will be eligible to obtain a driver’s licence in 12 months’ time.

This is a very pleasing result for KN, especially given the extensive list of charges and his habitual driving offences.

Drives whilst disqualified three times, manages to avoid conviction

R v JF

JF was charged with driving whilst disqualified in 2018. Chris Cole representd JF and his matter was adjourned in December 2018 so that he may obtain an interlock licence.

In the intervening period before this licence was obtained JF committed two further offences of driving whilst disqualified.

JF’s matter came before the Manly Local Court and Christopher Cole persuaded the presiding Magistrate not to record convictions against him. Instead he was sentenced pursuant to section 9(1)(b) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act and placed on three times Conditional Release Orders for the duration of two years.

This was an outstanding result for JF considering that he had re-offended two times. He was able to avoid a criminal record.

Charged with numerous serious drug and violence related offences, avoids prison term for Community Corrections Order

R v AC

AC was charged with numerous serious charges, including three counts of ‘stalk/intimidate with intent to cause fear of harm’, ‘use offensive weapon with intent to commit indictable offence’, ‘damage/destroy property’, ‘possess prohibited drug’ as well as ‘driving whilst disqualified’.

To make matters worse AC had also contravened a previous bond to be of Good Behaviour.

Matthew Berrell represented AC and the matter came before Katoomba Local Court. The presiding Magistrate accepted Berrell’s sentencing submissions and chose to impose a Community Corrections Order (CCO) on AC for a period of two years, as well as 200 hours of Community Service work and an order to continue receiving regular counselling sessions.  

This was a fantastic result for AC as he very easily could have been sentenced to a gaol term. Each charge of ‘stalk/intimidate’ carries a maximum sentence of five years, whilst a charge of ‘use offensive weapon’ carries a maximum sentence of seven years. Instead AC was able to remain in the community and receive ongoing mental health treatment.