That is a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal given in 1998, a decade ago. There has been no substantial shift in sentencing outcomes that I can see in the past ten years.
66. In Kevin Knight's case there are seriously competing tensions: Consistency in sentencing as exhibited by current sentencing practices of judges and magistrates dealing with cannabis supply offences; compliance with the policy settings authoritatively required of me by the Court of Criminal Appeal and the doctrine of parity as illustrated in the sentence given to Gayle which was not appealed against. None of these ingredients can be combined to make anything of sense. It is clear from the remarks just referred to by Priestley JA that the Court of Criminal Appeal requires judges of this Court to pay proper regard to the sentencing policy as declared by that Court. I am also bound by the same authority to pay proper regard to parity. I am also bound by the same authority to pay proper regard to consistency in sentencing outcomes.
67. Unconstrained by the issue of parity I would have imposed a full time custodial sentence. I regard the well-established principles of parity in the circumstances of this case as the exceptional circumstance taking this offence and offender out of a full time custody requirement. This offender has not been assessed as suitable for a community service order. In any event, I intend to pay obeisance to the dictates of the Court of Criminal Appeal as best I can by imposing a term of imprisonment. A term of imprisonment must be recognised as acknowledging the dictates of personal and general deterrence. But for the plea of guilty I would have set a term of imprisonment of twelve months. Discounted by 17.5%, that effectively becomes a sentence of imprisonment of ten months. In the event that he is willing to abide by the terms of a good behaviour bond for a period of ten months for today, I intend to suspend the operation of that sentence.
BRIAN KNIGHT SUBJECTIVE CASE.
68. Brian Thomas Knight, aged thirty-seven, is the youngest of the fifteen siblings. He is a grandfather three times over and about to be a grandfather for the fourth. He has two daughters. He has been in a relationship with his partner, an alleged co-offender, for a period of twenty-one years. This offender looks to his family for support. His mother occupies premises next door to him. All of his siblings are still alive. He and his partner are caring for a grandson until his daughter, Renee, obtains independent housing. His father died of a heart attack when the offender was in his mid-teens. He was close to his father and still finds his passing difficult. Significantly, he still visits and maintains his father's grave.
EDUCATION, SKILLS, EMPLOYMENT HISTORY.
69. This offender skipped a lot of school before moving to Cobar where he attended high school. He finished high school aged fifteen. He was halfway through Year 9 at that time. His literacy and numeracy skills remain undeveloped. He claims adequacy in reading, but I note that he needed to be assisted completing the psychological testing. He grades his mathematics skills as poor. He has worked at the meatworks, grape picking and seasonal work. For the past eight years he has worked in the building industry, constructing homes for Aboriginal housing. In March 2008 he told Miranda Stevens, a clinical psychologist, he was working two days weekly with CDEP. It would appear he principally focuses on tiling in his employment with Aboriginal housing, but he has done carpentry and joinery courses at TAFE. He had the workers' compensation claim I earlier referred to finalised in 2005. He has an interest in sport. He has managed the local football club for twelve months. He also played cricket. He belongs to a men's group that teaches children about the bush. He enjoys fishing, hunting, spending time with his grandchildren and relaxing in front of the TV.