Bradley v The Queen

The applicant, Bradley, sought leave to appeal against his sentence for the 1983 murder of a 16-year-old girl. Bradley was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 21 years. The High Court was tasked with determining whether the judge erred in his assessment of the relevance of Bradley’s youth at the time of the offence, whether the trial judge failed to consider the sentencing practices of the era, and if the sentence was manifestly excessive.

The court examined whether the judge had appropriately balanced the mitigating factor of the applicant’s youth against the gravity of the crime. It was necessary to determine if the judge had correctly applied the principles of sentencing, particularly the relevance of current sentencing practices under section 5(2)(b) of the Sentencing Act 1991. The court considered if the judge’s consideration of contemporary sentencing practices was appropriate and whether this approach aligned with the principle of equal justice.

The court found that the judge had given sufficient weight to the applicant’s youth and that it was correct to consider current sentencing practices. The judge’s sentence was deemed to be within the range of sentences for murder at the time and was thus not manifestly excessive. The court concluded that the judge had appropriately moderated the sentence to accord with the principle of equal justice, referencing the decision in Stalio v The Queen. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal was dismissed.