Jetta v Director of Public Prosecutions for Western Australia

Jake Joseph Jetta, the appellant, appeals against the sentence imposed on him by the Magistrates Court for the offence of unlawfully assaulting a public officer. The appellant had already been serving an 8-month term of imprisonment for two other offences when he was sentenced to an additional 9 months imprisonment to be served cumulatively on the existing sentence. The appellant argues that the magistrate erred in sentencing him without taking into account relevant mitigating factors, and that the sentence imposed him amounted to a miscarriage of justice. Derrick J allowed the appeal on the basis that the magistrate failed to take into account the appellant's remorse, and that the absence of evidence of the appellant's foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) at the time of sentencing resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Derrick J resentenced the appellant to 6 months imprisonment to be served cumulatively on the existing sentence, with eligibility for parole.