Ground 3: Excessive Discount for Assistance
46As has earlier been indicated, the trial Judge allowed a discount of 60 per cent by way of recognition of the utilitarian value of the early plea of guilty, and also in recognition of the assistance that the respondent gave to authorities.
47Before the sentencing Judge, it was clear, and accepted by the prosecution, that the respondent had pleaded guilty at an early stage, had co-operated with the authorities and had promised to provide further assistance to the authorities in the future.
48These were matters that the sentencing Judge was specifically required to take into account: s 16A(2) Crimes Act.
49The Director accepted that whilst there was no range of discounts set by statute, and the determination of what discount is appropriate is a matter within the proper exercise of a sentencing Judge's discretion, nevertheless, he submitted that a review of authorities suggested that discounts are customarily in the range between 20 per cent and 50 per cent, and any discount in excess of 50 per cent would be exceptional.
50The Director drew attention to the judgment of this Court in SZ v R [2007] NSWCCA 19; (2007) 168 A Crim R 249. In that case, Buddin J (with whom Simpson J agreed), said:
"53. However, in light of the authorities to which I have referred ... it is my opinion that a combined discount exceeding 50 per cent should be reserved for an exceptional case."
51Earlier in the judgment, Howie J (with whom Simpson J also agreed), said:
"3. ... having reconsidered the matter I do not recant from my view that in general a combined discount for pleas of guilty and assistance should be given and that such a discount should not normally exceed 50 per cent."
52However, his Honour went on to make the following observations:
"5. But the notion of an irreducible minimum sentence that must inform the lower limit of the sentencing discretion is manifest in the often quoted decisions of this Court emphasising that at the conclusion of the exercise of the sentencing discretion, whatever be the subjective circumstances of the offender and whatever discounts are applied to achieve a recognised public policy, the sentence must bear a reasonable relationship with the objective seriousness of the offence and fulfil the manifold purposes of punishment: see e.g. R v Geddes (1936) 36 SR (NSW) 554; and R v Dodd (1991) 57 A Crim R 349. Sometimes it is said that the sentence must 'accord with the general moral sense of the community': R v Rushby [1977] 1 NSWLR 594. After taking into account the various statutory and common law principles and applying such discounts that arise on the particular facts, the sentencing judge is required to stand back and ask whether the resulting sentence is just and reasonable, not only to the offender but also to the community at large."
53In SZ reference was made to the decision of this Court in R v Sukkar [2006] NSWCCA 92, where Latham J (with whom McClellan CJ at CL and Howie J agreed) said:
"The gravamen of the Crown's complaint on this appeal resides in the quantification of a composite discount of 45 per cent in order to take account of the respondent's plea of guilty and his assistance to authorities. ... While there is no fixed tariff for assistance to the authorities, discounts customarily range between 20 per cent and 50 per cent. There have been comparatively rare cases where a discount in the order of 55 per cent or 60 per cent has been given. Generally speaking however, a discount of 50 per cent is regarded as appropriate to assistance of a very high order. No doubt, that is in part a reflection of the principle that a discount for assistance must not produce a result which is disproportionate to the objective gravity of a particular offence and the circumstances of a particular offender."
54The Crown accepted that the assistance provided constituted a substantial mitigating factor and entitled the sentencing judge to reduce the sentence that would otherwise have been imposed. The Crown however submitted that the discount was excessive with the result that the sentence imposed fell below one which was required to denounce the crime.
55The respondent submitted that the Crown had conceded before the sentencing Judge that the assistance provided would be valued by the sentencing Judge as "... being at the very high end of the range". The respondent further submitted that the Crown had conceded that a discount of "around about 50 per cent" would be in order. As well, the respondent pointed to the remarks of the sentencing Judge with respect to assistance and submitted that having regard to all of those factors, it could not be said that a discount of 60 per cent was outside the range properly available as a matter of discretion to the sentencing Judge.
56It was submitted that the combined discount was reasonably proportionate to the criminality involved.
57In considering these competing submissions, it is necessary for the Court to consider the nature and extent of the assistance provided. I have done so. In my view, the concession made by the Crown described in [ REF _Ref397003163 \r \h 55] and [ REF _Ref397003164 \r \h 56] above, is an adequate, but short, description of the assistance provided. Any more detailed description in these reasons would be inappropriate and unnecessary.
58In my opinion, in all of the circumstances of this case, the early plea of guilty and the discount provided for assistance to the authorities did not warrant at 60 per cent discount. Such a discount is, in the circumstances of this case, excessive. The respondent's assistance, whilst it may be categorised as assistance of a high order, when combined with his early plea of guilty, merited no more than a discount of 50 per cent.
59It was, in my view, an error on the part of the sentencing Judge to determine the discount in the amount which he did.
60I would propose that this ground of appeal be upheld.