Dickensen v The Queen

The applicant, Dickensen, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against sentences imposed by the County Court for multiple offences, including three armed robberies. The appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal had also contested the sentencing methodology employed by the primary judge.

The legal issues before the High Court concerned the appropriate methodology for sentencing when multiple offences have been committed, particularly in relation to the principle of totality. A broader issue raised was whether a one-stage or two-stage approach should be adopted in the criminal sentencing process.

The applicant contended that the sentencing judge employed a two-stage approach. In the first stage, the judge determined a sentence proportionate to the gravity of each offence, disregarding personal factors of the offender. This established a ceiling for each offence. In the second stage, personal circumstances were considered to reduce the sentence from this ceiling, ultimately fixing the total sentence for all offences. The applicant argued that this methodology was flawed.