Glade v The Queen

The appeal concerned a sentencing decision made by a judge in the South Australian District Court. The appellant, Glade, sought to challenge the sentence imposed upon him.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia was whether the sentencing judge had erred in failing to impose a bond under section 97 of the relevant Act, and whether there was a failure to consider, or an error in the application of, section 10(2) of the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA). Section 10(2) mandates that a court must not impose a sentence of imprisonment unless it is satisfied that the seriousness of the offence justifies imprisonment as the only penalty, or that imprisonment is required to protect the community.

The Court reasoned that the sentencing judge's failure to explicitly refer to section 10(2) was not an error, as there was no occasion to consider alternatives to imprisonment. Both parties had agreed that the offending warranted an immediate term of imprisonment. The Court noted that the principle that immediate incarceration is a last resort was well-established prior to the enactment of section 10(2) and was unlikely to have been overlooked. The Court also dismissed a ground of appeal alleging manifest excess in the sentence and non-parole period.

The appeal was dismissed, with permission granted to appeal ground 1, but grounds 1, 1a, and 3 were ultimately dismissed.