Fazari v The State of Western Australia

The appellant Fazari appealed against his sentence for failing to stop after a motor vehicle accident, failing to report the accident to a police officer, and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The trial judge sentenced Fazari to 4 years' imprisonment for each offence, to be served concurrently. Fazari was also serving a sentence of 4 years 4 months for possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply. The total effective sentence for Fazari was 8 years 4 months. Fazari argued that his overall sentence infringed the totality principle.

The court considered whether any individual sentence was manifestly excessive and whether the overall effective sentence infringed the totality principle. The court noted that Fazari's offending was serious and warranted a substantial term of imprisonment. However, the court found that the overall effective sentence of 8 years 4 months was excessive. The court held that the totality principle required the court to consider the overall effective sentence, rather than the individual sentences. The court reduced the sentence for the offences of failing to stop and failing to report to 2 years' imprisonment each, to be served concurrently. The sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice was reduced to 1 year's imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the other sentences. The total effective sentence was reduced to 3 years 4 months.

The court ordered that Fazari's sentence be reduced to 3 years 4 months' imprisonment, to be served cumulatively with his existing sentence of 4 years 4 months for possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply. The court noted that Fazari had already served 1 year 8 months of his existing sentence. The court ordered that Fazari be released on parole after serving a further 1 year 8 months of his sentence. The court held that the reduced sentence did not infringe the totality principle.