Law v Queensland Police Service

[2009] QDC 424

[2009] QDC 424

DISTRICT COURT
APPELLATE JURISDICTION

JUDGE GRIFFIN SC

Appeal No 203 of 2009

BRYAN JOSEPH LAW	Appellant
and
QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE	Respondent
CAIRNS ..DATE 08/12/2009

JUDGMENT
HIS HONOUR: This appeal is by Brian Joseph Law in relation to

1

the sentence which was passed upon him following conviction in
the Cairns Magistrates Court on the 14th of August 2009 for
the offence of wilful damage. The Magistrate convicted the
appellant of wilfully damaging 86 electoral signs for a

particular candidate in the Cairns area prior to the election	10
of that year, and the period of offending was in March of
2009.
The appellant was convicted after a trial and found guilty by
the Magistrate. He was unrepresented. Although there was	20
considerable conversation in Court between the learned
Magistrate and the appellant, including the appellant being
given the opportunity to make submissions about whether a
conviction should be recorded, there was not however, I think
in fairness reading the transcript, an opportunity given to	30
the appellant to make submissions in relation to the level of sentence or any mitigatory factors.
The transcript shows that implicitly the Magistrate considered
matters, but on questions of procedural fairness it is	40
fundamentally important that those procedural matters be
followed with great delicacy and clarity. In my view,
unfortunate though it was, the appellant was not given the
opportunity to make submissions in mitigation. I therefore
allow the appeal.	50

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2 JUDGMENT 60