Cavanagh v The Queen

Cavanagh v The Queen involved two applicants who were convicted by a jury of trafficking by manufacture not less than a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine and possession of equipment and precursor chemicals for trafficking. The applicants appealed against their convictions and sentences, arguing that the verdicts were unsafe and unsatisfactory and that the sentences imposed were excessive. The applicants also raised a new medical condition that arose after their sentencing.

The central legal issues were whether the jury was open to finding the applicants parties to a joint criminal enterprise to manufacture not less than a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine or aided and abetted the principal offender, and whether the jury could find the applicants possessed equipment and precursor chemicals for trafficking. Additionally, the court had to determine whether it was open to the jury to find that the applicants had the intention to traffic in not less than a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine.

The court held that the verdicts were not unsafe and unsatisfactory. The jury was open to finding the applicants parties to a joint criminal enterprise or aided and abetted the principal offender, and the evidence supported such findings. The court also found that the jury could find the applicants possessed equipment and precursor chemicals for trafficking and had the intention to traffic in not less than a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine. Therefore, the appeal against conviction was dismissed.

Regarding the sentence, the court allowed the appeal due to the new evidence of the applicant's terminal illness, which was unknown at the time of sentencing. The court confirmed the total effective sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment but reduced the non-parole period to 12 months’ imprisonment.