Heydt v The Commissioner of Police

In the case of Heydt v The Commissioner of Police, the appellant, who had pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, was sentenced to a term of 12 months imprisonment cumulative upon a current sentence of 18 months imprisonment. The parole eligibility date was set at 1 October 2017. The appellant, who had a criminal history that included traffic offences but had not been previously convicted of a dangerous driving offence, appealed against the sentence. The appeal was heard in the Queensland Court of Appeal.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the sentencing magistrate had made any errors in the appellant's sentencing and whether the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive or inadequate. Specifically, the court examined whether the magistrate's characterisation of the dangerous driving as being no less serious than intentional dangerous driving was an error, and whether the magistrate's approach to determining the parole eligibility date as a separate issue, rather than as part of the overall sentencing consideration, constituted an error. The court also considered whether the magistrate had properly applied the principle of totality in imposing the parole eligibility date.

The court found that the sentencing magistrate had erred in two respects. Firstly, the magistrate had incorrectly characterised the nature of the driving as being no less serious than deliberate dangerous driving. Secondly, the magistrate had treated the parole eligibility date as a separate and distinct issue, rather than as one factor to be considered in conjunction with all relevant factors to arrive at a just sentence. The court held that the magistrate's approach to the parole eligibility date was in error as it should have been considered alongside all other relevant factors. Consequently, the sentence imposed was considered to be manifestly excessive.

The appeal was allowed, and the sentence imposed on 10 June 2016 for the offence of dangerous operation of a vehicle whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance was set aside. In lieu of that offence, the appellant was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment to be served cumulatively with the current sentence. The appellant's parole eligibility date was fixed at 11 May 2017.