The Agreed Statement of Facts appears as an annexure to this judgment.
5 In his Victim's Impact Statement, Mr Compton spoke of working as a carpenter in the building industry for 47 years until the date of this accident at the building site. Mr Compton did not recall the circumstances of his accident except that he was standing on some scaffolding approximately 3 metres from the ground and was measuring for the attachment of sheeting. On arrival at hospital he was found to be suffering from injuries to the head, a number of fractured ribs, lung contusion and a fractured spine. He was stabilised at Lismore Base Hospital and then transferred to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. In Brisbane an orthopaedic surgeon performed a spinal fusion procedure with the assistance of rods from T6 - T11. He remained an in-patient in Brisbane for two weeks, was then returned to Lismore Base Hospital where he stayed another eight days before being discharged. After the accident, his wife had to drive him to Ballina Hospital every eight weeks for physiotherapy.
6 Mr Compton spoke about exercising in his swimming pool to try to keep walking and to stay active so that his muscles did not begin to waste. He was used to being a fit and strong person and so the weakness and general ill health he had experienced since the accident was described as being "incredibly disheartening". His wife had suffered from depression since the accident and had taken much more responsibility around the house and in their everyday lives. Mr Compton was required to have an x-ray every 12 months to ensure that his spine was stable and the rod was in position. Every six weeks his wife drove him to see a general practitioner for a check-up.
7 Mr Compton listed the following continuing disabilities: an inability to stand for longer than an hour to one and a half hours; an inability to walk for long periods; unable to sit for longer than 30 minutes; unable to bend, squat or reach; cannot lift or carry objects weighing more than 2kgs; unable to turn his head to the right side without severe pain; cannot drive due to numbness in his right leg and his wife needs to drive him everywhere; he can no longer play golf, hockey, tennis and soccer all of which he enjoyed playing before the injuries; he cannot play outside with his grand children or pick them up; he cannot undertake his hobbies, including ceramic moulding; he struggles to get upright and stand up from his bed, the toilet and most sitting positions; he struggles to dress and undress himself and often has pain when attempting to do so; he has a severely reduced sexual function and cannot engage in sexual intercourse; he had reduced urinary and bowel function; he takes pain medication on a regular basis; he often needs crutches for stability to walk and mobilise himself; he has constant pain in his thoracic spine which varies in intensity and his lower thoracic spine can be very sensitive and his pain is increased especially if he coughs or sneezes; and, he has pins and needles in his right leg radiating to his foot and as far as his foot. On occasions when he has tried "to do a lot" in a week, he will often suffer two to three days of severe pain being so sharp that it feels like a knife being inserted in the right side of his back. During such times he uses his crutches for support and every couple of hours takes over-the-counter pain medication such as Panadol. Since the accident he has been diagnosed as suffering from a significant "closed head injury". That injury causes him to struggle to manage his financial and personal affairs such as banking or business related expenses. Mr Compton says he suffers from both cognitive and memory impairments and that specialist medical opinion was that he was not likely to recover from those impairments. As a result of the injuries received, he now suffers depression and has been very irritable and withdrawn but only since the accident. The loss of his way of life as it existed before the accident, including the loss of his job, was very upsetting for him. The constant pain he had suffered caused him anguish and despair and he now takes further medication to treat his condition. When Mr Compton was injured he was aged 62 years but he was very fit and had suffered no previous injuries. He enjoyed his work very much and worked with a good crew and felt that he would have carried on working past 65 years of age. He had now been advised that he would never be able to work again.
8 Mr Compton mentioned numerous domestic tasks that he had once undertaken but was no longer able to perform. He and his wife lived on a 5 acre properly that required extensive maintenance, including mowing with a tractor. Mr Compton is unable to do mowing on the tractor without pain and since late 2008 a person has been engaged to perform this work fortnightly. He has not been able to trim the trees and perform mulching on his property which is required every few months and occupies approximately three hours. His wife now performs this work. Mr Compton also relies on his wife for transport as he is unable to drive. Since the accident he is unable to wash, clean and vacuum the car because he cannot manoeuvre himself in confined and awkward spaces. Previously he shared house duties with his wife but he is now restricted to sweeping floors and washing and drying dishes. He could no longer wash the house windows. Three years prior to the accident a pool had been installed at their home and he had anticipated being able to build a deck for the pool in his spare time. As he is no longer able to do carpentry work, the deck remains unfinished. Mr Compton also performed all the pool maintenance but this is now done by his son. The pool is required to be cleaned regularly because he uses it for physiotherapy exercises. At the time he was injured, the family home was in the course of being renovated. Mr Compton and his wife had built the home 23 years earlier with the intention of slowly building it into their family home. This was work he was to perform in order to save costs and finishing the home was intended to be a retirement project but because of the extent of his injuries, he was now unable to complete the work including work surrounding the barbeque area, work in the main bathroom and various other works around the house. Family members have performed part of the work and the extent of the renovations is such that Mr Compton and his wife cannot afford tradesmen. He referred to being greatly upset by the house being left in an unfinished state and not being able to enjoy it in his retirement as he had planned. He was also unable to assist in home renovations for one of his sons whereas he had been able to give such assistance to another son. Mr Compton spoke about his fitness and his ability as a builder/carpenter to lift up to 50 kgs above shoulder height, to stand and walk for long periods, to bend and squat and carry objects over uneven ground but they were tasks he was no longer capable of performing. He was certain he would not be able to return to that level of work capacity because of the extent of his injuries and as he was now 65 years old he would never be able to retrain in different employment, having performed no other work during his lifetime. The Court considers it appropriate to receive and to take into account Mr Compton's Victim's Impact Statement as evidence of the harm caused by the offence.
9 In his case, Mr Quinn relied upon his sworn affidavit which indicated that he was now 40 years old, married with three children aged 10, 6 and 8 weeks. Mr Quinn had graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Engineering from Sydney University and although holding a contract licence from 2004 to 2008, he had not entered into any contracts as a builder under this licence. He practised as an engineer until 2003 and was then employed by Gerob. In July 2003 he completed a supervisor's certificate and went on to complete a builder's licence in 2004. In August 2003, the previous owner of the company offered it for sale. Mr Hall, who had been with the company for seven years, and Mr Quinn agreed to purchase the company and they both became directors.
10 Mr Quinn described himself as having an "exemplary safety record" and had not received any notices or fines. He completed his Green Card and Aon risk management in 1997 and had completed a further occupational health and safety induction in January 2007. In 2003, he joined the Housing Industry Association. Occupational health and safety legislative updates and requirements were periodically sent to him and the company. Where these were applicable to the company's work they were implemented by having a copy of the memorandum electronically sent to staff and every fortnight printed copies were attached to the sub-contractor's slip. The 2007 induction was undertaken on a safety consultant's recommendation that Mr Quinn, Mr Hall and all persons likely to be on site should have or renew that qualification. The company had developed a safety manual and it was updated. A safety consultant had been retained and that continued under the new ownership. Following legislative changes in 2007, a compliance order and update was undertaken and the updates were under way at the time of Mr Compton's accident.
11 In August 2003, Mr Quinn and Mr Hall became directors of Gerob, trading as Beach Life Homes. By this time the company had been constructing houses for some 32 years. In his role as director and company Secretary, Mr Quinn was responsible for engineering issues concerning housing and he also conducted daily financial duties with the company's financial manager (an accountant) including payroll, GST, tax returns, banking and contract administration. On occasions, he would visit sites if there was an issue where his engineering training could assist. Typically, this would occur at least once during construction and approximately once or twice per month. The major contractors remained the same prior to and following his involvement with Gerob. Other sub-contractors would approach the building supervisors on site or through industry acquaintances and may be engaged depending on the particular construction. The details of such sub-contractors, including their insurances, work method statements and contacts would be gathered by the company's client services officer who would collate and file all this material.
12 Mr Quinn regarded the company as having a good safety record. There was a safe system of work in place, including a safety manual and work method statements operating in accordance with the HIA and Master Builders' Association requirements. For example, on-site training and safety induction and certification, particularly for site personnel, was conducted. At about the time of the incident the company employed 11 people with two building supervisors on site (but travelling from site to site) a construction co-ordinator based mostly in the office co-ordinating contractors, Mr Quinn as an engineer, a financial manager, three client service officers, two sales persons, an estimator, a draughtsperson and Mr Peter Hall as the managing director. Mr Quinn said that the sites were generally of a similar nature regarding inherent and well-known dangers in the construction of houses. Some sites had particular requirements such as two-storey houses requiring scaffold or single-storey houses requiring roof rail protection and these matters were addressed prior to commencement of construction. Up to ten houses could be worked on at any one time with up to ten being completed in any nine to twelve-month period and a new construction commencing on the completion of each home. The company had engaged Ballina Scaffold to provide their services at the Hillcrest Avenue site. Ballina Scaffold had been engaged by the company for many years and had been used on other projects prior to Mr Quinn's involvement with the company. Generally, Ballina Scaffold provided all scaffolding on the houses constructed by the company and numerous specialist sub-contractors conducted construction. The company did not directly employ building workers and there had been no incidents involving scaffolding on other sites.
13 Upon learning of Mr Compton's fall, Mr Quinn and the contracts co-ordinator went to the site to investigate the accident. The scaffold was barricaded with safety tape and a notice of this action was sent to all sub-contractors while construction supervisors were also instructed to so advise sub-contractors. At the time the company had conducted several site safety compliance checks and was updating its documentation but the accident occurred before this task was completed. The company continued to operate until May 2007 but specific warnings were now given about unauthorised scaffolding alterations. Thereafter, the construction safety manual became site-specific.
14 As to his present circumstances, Mr Quinn said he was unemployed and he did not build for anyone nor did he supervise any building. He had returned his building licence but was performing engineering consulting work where he could find it. He did not engage engineers in employment but remained a member of the Institute of Engineers. In relation to his financial circumstances, Mr Quinn said he was declared bankrupt in July 2008 and he provided evidence as to his bankruptcy. In relation to his assets, he said that he lived with his family in a house worth $510,000 which he owned jointly with his wife prior to his bankruptcy. The house was now owned by his wife. His wife had a mortgage of $483,000 in relation to this property. Mr Quinn said he had no other assets or a car, insurance policies or other bank accounts. He gave a breakdown of his monthly expenditure being in excess of $5,700 and stated that he had not been required to make contributions to the Trustee in Bankruptcy due to his low income and because he had three young children. He had no other liabilities except for a periodic payment for legal fees associated with defending this prosecution. His wife was not engaged in paid employment but received a low income Government child benefit. His wife continued under medication for a serious post-partum illness following the birth of their second child and was not available for work as a teacher which was her usual occupation. When his wife was able to work she could contribute to the family income in the future. He was now the sole breadwinner but his work was irregular in any month. He stated that over the past year their joint income was $69,000. Once all expenses were deducted from the income there was no surplus. At the present time they were behind in their mortgage payment and they had entered an arrangement to spread those payments over time.
15 In relation to other matters, Mr Quinn noted that he had co-operated with WorkCover since the accident and was the first person to meet the inspectors on site immediately after the accident. He was the first person to make himself available for an interview at their offices and had provided several company documents and manuals for the investigation. He had not had any contact with WorkCover or Mr Compton for some time. Mr Quinn expressed a concern about being able to work as a qualified supervisor should he be convicted but following cross-examination, this part of his evidence was not pressed. Mr Quinn said he had followed Mr Compton's recovery from his injury through mutual contacts along with others who had known and worked with him for some time. Mr Quinn had not made any direct enquiry so as not to impose on Mr Compton. He stated that he was sorry for Mr Compton's injuries and would not wish they on any person. He felt sorry for Mrs Compton and the children and their sharing and enduring of his recovery, knowing that Mr Compton was such an independent person. He spoke of being glad that Mr Compton was blessed with this level of care.
16 Mr Quinn also gave oral evidence in relation to his financial circumstances. He noted that, at the time of his bankruptcy, he had few personal debts and that his financial problems had arisen from the joint guarantees given by the directors for the company's debts. The company's debts amounted to some $800,000. He had voluntary entered bankruptcy. The house in which he was living was valued at $510,000 by a licensed valuer nearly nine months prior to giving evidence and that valuation had been arranged for the purposes of establishing his net worth as required by the Trustee in Bankruptcy. Mr Quinn's wife had bought out his share in the house and had purchased that share from the Trustee for the sum of $95,000. There were mortgages on the house in the amount of $483,000. All Mr Quinn's other assets had been sold to pay off his and the company's creditors. The company was a franchisor and Mr Quinn had owned one of the franchises and had some houses with some being built. He sold some of his property to pay for continued construction prior to his bankruptcy and he no longer held any such property. He did not own a car and did not have any pension or superannuation. He held a joint bank account with his wife for the purposes of mortgage payments and that had a balance of approximately $3,000. The mortgage was one month in arrears in the sum of $2,600.
17 In relation to his work, Mr Quinn said that his work was varied and not regular. There might be small jobs totalling $700 and then there might be a gap for a month and then a job worth $2,000 and so it averaged itself out. His wife was not working but was interested in resuming teaching on a part-time basis but that was unlikely to occur until the youngest child reached approximately 12 months of age.
18 In cross-examination, Mr Quinn said he was operating essentially as a sole trader and described some of the work he had performed. He said there was not much paid employment for engineers where he lived although, for a period of time, he had performed work in Brisbane for an engineering firm. That position became too costly to continue even though they had moved to the Gold Coast so his family could be close to schooling but that job had now finished. While performing that work he had been on a salary of $90,000 per annum. Mr Quinn hoped that work would improve as the economy recovered but there was generally little available in the engineering field with several of the larger companies putting people off. Mr Quinn said that he was no longer seeking or was qualified to perform work as a supervisor and he had no present intention to become involved in the same type of work as he previously performed for Gerob. In relation to his last tax return, which was not in evidence, Mr Quinn remembered that he had earned $35,000 of the total of $69,000 earned by him and his wife: the remainder of the money was constituted by support payments made to his wife. Mr Quinn then clarified that the $69,000 income he had referred to in his affidavit was a projected figure and an anticipated income for the future based on the previous year's tax return.
19 Mr Hall represented himself in the proceedings. He tendered a document indicating that he had been made bankrupt on a debtor's petition. He tendered tax returns for both himself and his wife for the financial years 2008 and 2009. The 2009 tax return showed Mr Hall's employment as "band member" with a gross income of $38,829 in relation to that employment: with other income the total income for the financial year was just over $40,500. Mr Hall's 2007/2008 tax return showed his occupation as a musician with gross earnings in that capacity of approximately $34,000. Mr Hall further tendered three references that spoke well of his integrity, honesty and professionalism. From those documents it was also evident that Mr Hall, from approximately mid-2007, had been employed by a swimming pool company on a commission basis as a company sales representative. It was noted that, because of the economic downturn, his commission in the past two years was not as high as it could have been and that the building industry in rural areas had been hard hit. There was a reference to Mr Hall "doing it tough". There is, however, no reference to this employment in the tax returns tendered by Mr Hall. A letter from Mr Hall's accountant spoke of the acquisition in August 2003 of Gerob Investments trading as Beach Life Homes with Mr Hall taking on the role of marketing and sales manager while Mr Quinn had responsibility as construction manager. It was noted that in May 2007 the company went into voluntary administration and liquidation and further, as a result of personal guarantees given by Mr Hall, he was also later declared bankrupt. Mr Hall lost his family home, the family motor vehicle and was forced to sell some possessions to repay outstanding debts. Both Mr and Mrs Hall had worked in the business and were therefore forced to find other gainful employment. They relocated their family to a smaller home which they currently rented for $400 per week. The accountant noted that, since the business was placed in voluntary administration and liquidation, Mr Hall had made every attempt to face his responsibilities by paying off personal debts incurred over a period of time, maintaining full-time employment and also continuing to provide for his family and financially re-establishing himself. It was said that Mr Hall had made every attempt to face his responsibilities and that he did not hide from them despite the seriousness of his situation.
20 Mr Hall also provided an affidavit in which he confirmed that he had gained employment with a swimming pool company from mid-June 2007 as a commission only sales representative and was earning an average of $650 per week. He set out his family's financial earnings as being $1,220 per week with the remaining $570 per week being contributed by his wife from her employment. The families' average weekly expenses consumed their entire average weekly income . Mr Hall gave oral evidence confirming the material provided in his affidavit and as demonstrated in his taxation returns. He was not subjected to cross-examination by counsel for the prosecutor.
DELIBERATION
21 The first and primary function of the Court in setting an appropriate penalty for an offence under the Act is to assess the objective seriousness of the offence. Here, the offence is one committed by the company jointly owned by the defendants who were its directors. Their individual liability arises from their position as directors and that liability is not affected by the fact that the company has been wound-up. In light of the submissions it will also be necessary to separately consider the relevant culpability of the defendants.
22 Neither defendant submitted that this was not a serious breach of the Act. Counsel for Mr Quinn emphasised the existence of an informal system whereby people at the site were orally informed that any adjustments to the scaffolding had to be notified to the site supervisor or one of the company's officers. The existence of that informal system does not, by itself, significantly reduce the seriousness of the breach nor does it effectively control scaffolding adjustments. Consideration has to be given to the overall circumstances concerning the adjustment of scaffolding in the erection of these dwellings. The Agreed Statement of Facts in each matter acknowledge that a qualified scaffolding company was engaged to erect the scaffolding but that was the end of the contractual task and the defendants made no arrangements for that qualified scaffolder to regularly return to the site to ensure the safety of the scaffolding. There was no one amongst the company's employees or sub-contractors who was qualified to conduct such inspections. Significantly, in November 2005, the defendants received a report from an occupational health and safety consultant who had highlighted many of the issues said to surround the incident involving Mr Compton, including site-specific occupational health and safety management plans and certificates of competency for scheduled works. Mr Quinn terminated the consultant's engagement in November 2005 without consulting Mr Hall. The relevance of these matters is that a practice appears to have developed whereby tradesmen, including Mr Compton, would make their own adjustments to the scaffolding to facilitate workflow and to assist in the process they were performing. Another sub-contractor carpenter, Mr Smith, had adjusted the work platform from which Mr Compton fell. From time to time Mr Compton had adjusted the scaffolding. Neither Mr Smith nor Mr Compton held certificates of competency in relation to working with scaffolding.
23 Having regard to all the evidence the Court cannot accept the submission made on behalf of Mr Quinn that his culpability was lessened in some respect because of the failure of the scaffolding company to regularly inspect the scaffolding on site and thus, would have become aware of the unauthorised and dangerous adjustments made to the scaffolding by the tradesmen. To the extent that Mr Quinn relies upon the relevant Australian Standard concerning frequency of inspections by persons with an appropriate scaffolding certificate of competency, that duty did not necessarily rest with the scaffolding provider under the terms of the supply and erect arrangements with the company. Absent any ongoing arrangement with the scaffolding company to conduct such inspections, those inspections had to be appropriately conducted by Gerob but they could only do so by using persons with an appropriate scaffolding certificate of competency. If they had no such person amongst their workforce or did not propose to engage such a person, then the company's obligation was to engage an external inspection provider, logically being the scaffolding company that supplied the scaffolding.
24 The extent of the failures of the corporation and therefore the failures borne by the directors are indicated by the breadth of the particulars to which each defendant has entered a plea of guilty. The defendants have accepted that the corporation failed: to ensure persons working on, egressing, or accessing scaffolding at the site were not exposed to the risk of falling through or from scaffolding; failed to adequately supervise and enforce its system of work or procedure for making or requesting modifications to scaffolding; failed to provide a safe system of work for working at heights in that the company failed to ensure that scaffolding used by persons at the site was safe and failed to ensure all necessary components of the scaffolding were properly in place; failed to provide adequate information, instruction, training and supervision of persons undertaking work at the site in relation to the use and/or modification of scaffolding; and, failed to undertake and implement any or any adequate risk assessment in relation to the performance of work at heights at the site. On this building site a house was being constructed on a sloping site. The scaffolding rose up to and over 8 metres at some sections of the building while Mr Compton fell from a height of only 2.5 metres yet was very severely injured to the extent that it is unlikely that he will ever work again.
25 The Court accepts the prosecutor's submission that there was no documented system of work relating to scaffold adjustments at the site and that the system was an informal one. Nevertheless, having regard to the nature of the industry, that may have been an effective system if it had been enforced: to the contrary, Mr Compton and Mr Smith understood that all tradespersons were to make their own modifications to meet the requirements of the work as it progressed. Further, the contract's manager and the site supervisor had not received any requests for scaffold adjustments in relation to the site. There was nothing in the system of work that required qualified inspection of the scaffolding as it was required to be altered and adjusted as the work progressed. This issue might have been addressed by a site-specific safety management plan but there was no such document provided by the company. Further, it is to be observed that the scaffolding on the site was found to be in a most dangerous condition with ties and ledges being removed and that most decks were unsafe, with planks and handrails missing. At the weekly construction meetings there was no discussion of the requirement for adjusting scaffold and no specific discussions regarding working at heights. The company did not undertake toolbox talks in relation to working from the scaffolding installed at the sites.
26 The Court also accepts the submission of counsel for the prosecutor that the unauthorised modification of the scaffolding by unqualified persons led to a serious risk of persons working on or obtaining access to the scaffolding potentially falling through or from that scaffolding and that risk should have been obvious to the company. The company was well aware that its employees and sub-contractors would be required to work at heights. It was foreseeable that there was a risk of falling through or from the scaffolding if it was altered in an unauthorised way or by someone who was not qualified to alter the scaffolding. There were simple and reasonably available steps that were open to the company to address this risk and indeed, such steps were taken following the accident. Taken together, these circumstances and the company's failures in relation to information, instruction, training and supervision lead the Court to the conclusion that this was a serious breach of the Act. In determining an appropriate penalty it is acknowledged that the maximum penalty for each of the defendants, as first offenders, is $55,000.
27 In relation to the relative culpability of each of the defendants and issues of parity, the Court is unable to accept counsel's submission that Mr Quinn's culpability should be found to be no more than that of Mr Hall. Again, the Court accepts the submissions by counsel for the prosecutor in relation to this matter. While both were directors of the company, Mr Quinn had responsibility for construction and site management and held a contractor's licence and also held a tertiary qualification as an engineer. Mr Hall was the managing director of the company and was responsible for sales, marketing, advertising and administration although it was said he had joint responsibility with Mr Quinn for occupational health and safety. Mr Hall occasionally visited sites and was aware of the progress stages of each home but he did not hold a contractor's licence or builder's licence. Mr Hall was not primarily responsible within the company for day-to-day activities of work being performed on building sites whereas Mr Quinn had responsibility for construction and site management and monitored the progress of all construction sites through weekly and monthly meetings and would undertake site inspections where structural decisions were required. Mr Hall had taken some steps to address occupational health and safety and risk management issues by engaging an occupational health and safety consultant approximately 12 months prior to the incident involving Mr Compton: it was Mr Quinn who, without discussion with Mr Hall, terminated that engagement after the consultant had identified flaws in the company's safety systems. The Court accepts Mr Hall's evidence that, having regard to his background, he had very little knowledge in the area of occupational health and safety and any actions he took were taken in conjunction with Mr Quinn. Having regard to these matters, the Court is satisfied that Mr Hall was significantly less culpable than Mr Quinn in relation to the risk to safety which constitutes the breach particularised in these cases.
28 In relation to each defendant, a general deterrence will form a significant component of the overall penalty. Fall injuries are prevalent throughout industry, including the domestic building industry. Falls, including falls from scaffolding, are unfortunately a recurring event. The issue of specific deterrence is not so clear cut in each of these cases. Both defendants are undischarged bankrupts and it will be some time before they are able to again act as directors and have the capacity to influence occupational health and safety in that role. It is possible that Mr Quinn will return to some role in the industry where he will have responsibility for some aspect of occupational health and safety but in essence, that is a speculative conclusion that should not impact upon the level of penalty to be imposed. There is nothing in the evidence to suggest that Mr Hall will return to this type of work or at the level of management he attained with Gerob. To the extent that specific deterrence will be taken into account, it will have a reduced role in relation to each of these defendants.
29 In relation to subjective factors the prosecutor accepts that, in each case, there was an early plea of guilty entered by each defendant. That was certainly the case in relation to Mr Hall who appeared in person at the first mention of the matter and was urged by the Court not to then enter a plea until he had taken legal advice in view of the seriousness of the matter. On the second mention of the matter, Mr Hall entered a plea of guilty. Mr Quinn's case was somewhat different in that, initially, he was seeking advice as to the plea he should enter but that was inhibited by his financial circumstances. It was those circumstances that led to a series of negotiations with the prosecutor and a plea was ultimately entered to an Amended Application for Order. In all the circumstances, the Court accepts that Mr Quinn also entered an early plea. In relation to the utilitarian value of these pleas, each defendant is to receive the benefit of a 25 per cent discount on the penalty to be imposed upon them.
30 Both defendants are first offenders with no previous relevant convictions and are entitled to the leniency attaching to that status. Although the Court has found that each breach was serious, this was not a case where no attention had been paid to occupational health and safety but the flaws in that system were serious. The defendants took prompt measures to address the risks exposed by this accident. They adopted a site-specific occupational health and safety management plan and implemented plans at their sites for risk management. They introduced a statement of responsibilities, safety training, incident management and safety rules as well as safe work method statements. Further, the company introduced a number of checks to ensure appropriate certification and qualifications were held for scheduled work and that records of scheduled work were kept in relation to trained and qualified personnel in accordance with the WorkCover guide to certification. It is significant that the prosecutor accepted that each defendant co-operated with the investigation of this accident. Those matters will be taken into account as mitigating the ultimate penalty to be imposed.
31 As to the issues of contrition and remorse, s 21A(3)(i) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 now permits remorse to be taken into account as a mitigating factor only if the offender has provided evidence that he or she has accepted responsibility for their actions and the offender has acknowledged any injury, loss or damage caused by his or her actions or made reparation for such injury, loss or damage, or both. In his affidavit, Mr Quinn said that, although he had not made direct enquiries to Mr Compton of his progress and rehabilitation, he did follow his recovery through mutual contacts. The lack of direct enquiry was to avoid imposing upon Mr Compton. Mr Quinn felt sorrow for the injuries caused to Mr Compton and did not wish injuries of that nature on any other person and he also expressed sorrow for Mr Compton's wife and children sharing and enduring his recovery. Mr Quinn did not add to those matters in his oral evidence. It therefore appears that, while Mr Quinn has acknowledged in a general sense, the injury, loss and damage caused by the actions of the company there is no evidence any reparations were made by the company for such injury, loss or damage and there is no specific evidence that Mr Quinn has accepted responsibility for his actions. While the matters he has raised will be taken into account, the lack of specific evidence directed to the issue of contrition results in that aspect not being able to be taken into account by the Court as a mitigating factor.
32 Mr Hall represented himself in the proceedings as already mentioned. It is highly unlikely that Mr Hall was aware of the provisions of s 21A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, particularly the provision regarding contrition but in his address to the Court the first matter he dealt with was to express his sorrow, as a former director of the company, that systems should have been in place that were not in place and they were not the best systems they could possibly be. He expressed his feelings for Mr Compton and his wife whom he had known since 1994 and regarded himself as being quite close to them and he had visited them on a number of occasions after the accident to offer his support as a director of the company. Bearing in mind that Mr Hall was self-represented, it appears to the Court that the spirit of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act regarding contrition has been met and that Mr Hall has accepted responsibility for his actions and has acknowledged the injuries, loss and damage caused by those actions. In his case, contrition will be a factor taken into account in mitigating the amount of penalty to be imposed.
33 As the evidence stands, the Court would impose a primary penalty of $7,000 on Mr Hall and $9,500 on Mr Quinn. With both defendants being undischarged bankrupts, it was to be expected that some attention would be paid to the issue of their capacity to pay a fine. In Mr Hall's case the position is relatively straightforward. He presented taxation records for the past two financial years and other evidence of his employment returning a modest amount each year. He adopted on oath the assessments he had put forward as to the family's living expenses. Those figures were not subjected to cross-examination and were accepted by the prosecutor and showed that, with the support of his wife's earnings, the family are just barely able to meet their regular outgoings. The modest means of Mr Hall is consistent with other evidence as to the sale of his house and other assets to meet liabilities arising from the operation of the company. It is possibly of some significance that in approximately mid-May 2010, Mr Hall expects to be discharged from his bankruptcy and may then be in a better position to search for more lucrative employment. There are, however, some indications from the material before the Court to suggest that employment options in regional areas of Australia are not plentiful at the present time and it may be some time before Mr Hall is able to obtain more lucrative employment. The Court accepts his evidence that at the present time he has no capacity to pay a fine but having regard to the considerations just mentioned, this appears to be an appropriate case to reduce the penalty by 50 per cent and to indicate to Mr Hall that he may apply to the Registrar of the Court for time to pay the fine to be imposed. The Court determines in Mr Hall's case while the appropriate primary penalty is $7,000 having regard to the seriousness of the offence, significant discounts and mitigating factors that, in light of his limited capacity to pay that fine, the sum of $7,000 is to be reduced by 50 per cent resulting in a final penalty of $3,500.
34 Unfortunately, in relation to Mr Quinn, the picture is much less clear. Despite the proceedings being adjourned specifically to allow Mr Quinn to address all the issues that would arise upon him entering a plea of guilty, no taxation returns, accountant's documents or verified financial material were placed before the Court and counsel for Mr Quinn declined an opportunity offered by the Court for this material to be filed shortly after submissions had closed. In his affidavit, Mr Quinn confirmed that he was an undischarged bankrupt and having returned his building licence, he was not engaged as an employee, did not build for anyone and did not supervise any building work. He was operating as an engineering consultant and his work ebbed and flowed resulting in him receiving periodic payments for his engagements. His wife now owned his home and he had no other assets including a car, insurance policies or any bank accounts. In his affidavit he listed his monthly outgoings and over a period of one year, those outgoings would just be met by the $69,000 which was their joint income. In cross-examination, it appears that the $69,000 per annum figure was a projection from the previous years' taxation returns which Mr Quinn had seen and had used to calculate the figures contained within his affidavit. On the most generous approach to his evidence, it would appear that in the last financial year Mr Quinn earned approximately $35,000 meaning that his wife received benefits of approximately $34,000. The evidence suggests that these earnings are totally consumed by family outgoings.
35 There was evidence of Mr Quinn previously holding an engineering position carrying a salary of $90,000 per annum but he no longer holds that position. His evidence is that work is scarce, nevertheless he appears to have a capacity, as a qualified engineer, to obtain employment well above the $35,000 he earned as a consultant in the last financial year. His capacity to obtain such a position is undoubtedly affected by the state of the economy and the nature of the industry in which he operates and his prospects may be enhanced after he is discharged from bankruptcy in approximately 2011. Despite having some misgivings about the quality of the evidence as to his financial position, the Court is ultimately satisfied that he is presently unable to pay a substantial fine imposed upon him in relation to this breach. In those circumstances, the primary penalty should be reduced by 35 per cent. The Court therefore discounts the primary penalty of $9,500 by 35 per cent: the final penalty imposed shall be $6,175. Mr Quinn, also, may make application to the Registrar of the Court for time to pay that fine.
36 The provisions of the Fines Act 1996 requiring the Court to give consideration to the means of a defendant to pay a fine also extends to the question of costs (see the Full Bench in WorkCover Authority (Inspector Yeung) v Wilson (t/as Wilson's Tree Service) (2005) 143 IR I87 at para [122] et seq). In that case the Full Bench accepted the proposition that normally, a successful litigant, including a prosecutor in occupational health and safety prosecutions, is entitled to his or her costs but that, nevertheless, the Court possessed a wide discretion in relation to the issue of costs. In applying the provisions of the Fines Act and considering the means of the defendant to pay the fine and the costs, adjustments to the reasonable costs sought may be required. At the request of the Court, the prosecutor, following the completion of argument, indicated that the approximate total professional costs and disbursements in each matter were as follows: in the matter of Mr Hall, approximately $10,000 and in the matter of Mr Quinn, approximately $11,000. It should be noted, however, that there was considerable overlap in the evidence in both cases with the specific role of each defendant being the main difference. As pointed out by the Full Bench in Wilson, the costs should not be disproportionate to the fine. Bearing those principles in mind and the evidence as to the means of each defendant, the Court determines that a just and reasonable order for costs in the case of Mr Quinn would be $2,000 and in Mr Hall's case, $1,000.
37 One final matter requires brief mention. The prosecutor submitted that, in the present proceedings, the Court should not follow the course I adopted in Inspector Batty v Brian John Goldsmith [2009] NSWIRComm 72. In that case, the defendant had only recently been declared bankrupt and the evidence supported a conclusion that he had an ongoing incapacity to pay any fine. In applying the provisions of the Fines Act the Court reduced the penalty to be imposed but also took the step of deferring the payment of that penalty until the expiration of the nominal term of the defendant's bankruptcy. In the present proceedings the prosecutor urged that course should not be adopted in these cases and further submitted that there was no legislative support permitting the Court to suspend or defer the payment of the fine. In the present proceedings it appears the nominal term of bankruptcy for Mr Hall will expire within the next few months and Mr Quinn's nominal expiry date is in 2011: they have prospects of being discharged from their bankruptcy at that time. Those facts and the different circumstances found in Goldsmith would lead the Court to conclude that the approach adopted in Goldsmith is not necessarily appropriate in the present matter and indeed, neither defendant sought such an order. Because of the general difficulty of dealing with bankrupt defendants in sentencing under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, it is of some importance to clarify the basis upon which the Court acted in Goldsmith. It may be accepted that there is no precise statutory provision permitting the suspension of payment of a fine although it might be said that a Court could, as an integral part of the sentencing process, defer the issue of orders until such time as the defendant was discharged from bankruptcy and was able to return to some normality in relation to their financial affairs. It may be possible for the Court to lay down a regime for the payment of a fine beginning at a future date. Quite apart from these possibilities, it should be understood that, in the absence of a statutory limitation, a superior court of record (such as this Court) even though of limited jurisdiction, has power to do all things necessary to give effect to that jurisdiction which is conferred upon it. That approach is consistent with the judgments in Philip Morris Inc and anor v Adam P Brown Male Fashions Pty Ltd and ors (1981) 148 CLR 457 and National Parks and Wildlife Service and anor v Stables Perisher Pty Ltd (1990) 20 NSWLR 573 although these cases were decided in a different context. Ultimately, the Court must impose a sentence that is just and appropriate having regard to all the factors, including the defendants' capacity to pay a fine. The imposition of a fine that is crushing in its effect on a defendant does not advance the cause of justice or assist in obtaining its numerous objectives. In view of the course proposed to be taken by the Court in the current matters, this issue need not be fully considered for present purposes although it should be noted that in WorkCover Authority of NSW v Anywhere Tower Cranes Pty Ltd and ors (20070 NSWIRComm 44, in the context of applying the Fines Act to a bankrupt defendant, Marks J contemplated that the payment of the monetary penalty would occur after discharge from bankruptcy. For present purposes, these matters need not be considered further but are mentioned in view of the issues raised by counsel for the prosecutor and the general importance of the subject matter.
ORDERS
38 The Court makes the following orders:
(a) In the matter of Inspector Patton v Peter Hall, Matter No IRC 1942 of 2008 :
(i) the defendant is found guilty of a breach of s 8(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 by operation of s 26(1) of that Act as particularised in the Amended Application for Order to which the defendant entered a plea of guilty;
(ii) the defendant is fined the sum of $3,500 with half that sum to be paid to the prosecutor by way of moiety;
(iii) the defendant is to pay $1,000 towards the costs of the prosecutor.
(b) In the matter of Inspector Patton v Jonathan Quinn, Matter No IRC 1943 of 2008 :
(i) the defendant is found guilty of a breach of s 8(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 by operation of s 26(1) of that Act as particularised in the Amended Application for Order to which the defendant entered a plea of guilty;
(ii) the defendant is fined the sum of $6,175 with half of that sum to be paid to the prosecutor by way of moiety;
(iii) the defendant is to pay $2,000 towards the costs of the prosecutor.