Knight v The Queen

The appeal in *Knight v The Queen* concerned a challenge to the sentence imposed on the appellant for drug trafficking offences. The appellant was convicted of offences involving methylamphetamine.

The legal issues before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia were whether the head sentence imposed was manifestly excessive and whether the sentencing judge had erred in determining the non-parole period, particularly in light of the appellant's personal circumstances and the provisions of the *Sentencing Act 2017* (SA) relating to serious repeat offenders.

The Court, comprising Kelly, Livesey and Bleby JJ, found that the appellant had been appropriately sentenced as a "street-level trafficker" for her April 2018 offending and as a "mid-level wholesaler" for her August 2018 offending, with the total head sentence of six years and eight months not being manifestly excessive. However, the Court determined that the appellant's personal circumstances were "exceptional" within the meaning of s 54(2) of the *Sentencing Act 2017* (SA), which permitted the sentencing judge to fix a non-parole period of less than four-fifths of the head sentence. The Court noted that while the offending showed a brazen escalation, it occurred within a short timeframe and without prior imprisonment for serious drug offences, and that the prospect of rehabilitation was an important consideration.

The Court allowed the appeal in part. While the head sentences and the imposition of partial concurrency were deemed appropriate, the Court resentenced the appellant by fixing a non-parole period of three years, to commence from 21 May 2020.