Barton v The State of Western Australia

Barton has appealed against his sentence, seeking an extension of time and leave to appeal against the sentence imposed by Stewart DCJ in the District Court. The appellant pleaded guilty to eight counts in total: five counts of possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply it to another, and three counts of possessing a thing capable of being stolen that was reasonably suspected to be unlawfully obtained. The District Court imposed a total effective sentence of 5 years 10 months' imprisonment. The appellant did not file his appeal notice until 5 October 2016, outside the time limit set out in the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 (WA). The appellant has applied for an extension of time to file his appeal and for leave to appeal against sentence. The appellant's appeal against sentence is limited to the sentence imposed. The court found that the appeal against sentence was brought within a reasonable time. The court noted that the appellant had pleaded guilty to all counts early, and that the appellant had been on bail for other offences when some of the offences were committed. The court found that the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive, and remitted the matter to the District Court for re-sentencing.

The court found that the totality principle was not properly applied in the original sentencing. The court found that the appellant's offending was serious, but that it was not so serious as to warrant the sentence imposed. The court found that the appellant's offending was at the lower end of the scale of seriousness for the offences of which he was convicted. The court found that the appellant's offending warranted a sentence of 2 years 6 months' imprisonment, with non-parole periods of 1 year 6 months for the drug possession offences and 1 year for the theft offences. The court remitted the matter to the District Court for re-sentencing in accordance with these findings.