James v R
[2015] NSWCCA 97
At a glance
Source factsCourt
Court of Criminal Appeal (NSW)
Decision date
2013-07-01
Before
Hoeben CJ, Fullerton J, Schmidt J
Catchwords
- 313 ALR 451 McCarthy v R [2011] NSWCCA 64 Minehan v R [2010] NSWCCA 140
- 147 CLR 383
- 5 A Crim R 329 R v Gent [2005] NSWCCA 370
Source
Original judgment source is linked above.
Catchwords
Judgment (22 paragraphs)
The applicant's case on sentence
- The applicant did not give evidence at his trial relying upon his denials to police in an ERISP. In a pre-sentence report tendered on sentence he maintained his denials. Unsurprisingly, in the absence of any evidence of contrition his Honour regarded the applicant's prospects of rehabilitation as limited. There is no challenge to that finding.
- The applicant was 28 at the time of sentence. He had no criminal record. Although he was unemployed at the time of sentence, he had a past working record as an unskilled labourer. He reported a stable relationship with his mother with whom he resided at the time of sentence, and with his siblings. He also reported being subjected to violence at the hand of his stepfather as a child. He was in regular telephone contact with his father after renewing that relationship in his early adolescence.
- The applicant tendered a medical report relating to his infant son who suffers a disability and who requires high level care. Although the child was in the full-time care of his mother, the applicant's former partner, at the time of sentence he continued to be involved in his son's daily care. His Honour acknowledged the impact a prison sentence would likely have on his infant children and the additional burden that his former partner would have to bear in having sole care of his son, but did not regard it as ameliorating the sentence to be imposed. There is no challenge to that finding.