Jordan v The State of Western Australia

The appellant, Brendan Jordan, appealed against his sentence, which was an aggregate of 8 years 6 months' imprisonment, imposed by the District Court for various drug and firearms offences. The appeal was heard by Buss JA and Mazza JA in the Court of Appeal. The sole proposed ground of appeal was that the total effective sentence did not bear a proper relationship to the overall criminality involved in all of the offences, having regard to the circumstances in which the offences were committed and factors personal to the appellant. The court considered the totality principle, which requires that the total effective sentence must bear a proper relationship to the overall criminality involved in all of the offences, viewed in their entirety, and after having regard to all relevant circumstances, including those referable to the offender personally and the total effective sentences imposed in comparable cases. The court found that the total effective sentence of 8 years 6 months' imprisonment bore a proper relationship to the overall criminality involved in all of the offences, viewed in their entirety, and after having regard to all relevant circumstances, including those referable to the appellant personally and the various matters of mitigation mentioned in the sentencing judge's remarks. The appeal was dismissed, and leave to appeal was refused.