Lees v The Queen

In Lees v The Queen, the appellant appealed against his sentence to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia. The appeal concerned the severity of the sentence imposed for his involvement in a large-scale computer hacking scheme, which involved diverting automated banking transfers of numerous organisations to fraudulent accounts. The appellant and his co-accused, Ms Emily Walker, operated this scheme from their home for at least 18 months, using customised software and stolen identification documents to establish these fraudulent accounts.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive. The appellant argued that the cumulative sentence, particularly in relation to Counts 3-9, rendered the overall sentence disproportionately severe. This required the Court to independently consider whether the sentence passed was the appropriate one for the offender and the nature of the offending.

The Court acknowledged that the appellant had conceded certain aspects of the prosecution's case, which narrowed the focus of the appeal to the discretionary exercise of the Court's power to interfere with the sentence. The appellant's argument of manifest excess was predicated on the cumulative nature of the sentence for Counts 3-9, which were distinct from the primary offending related to the diversion of funds. The Court was therefore tasked with determining if this cumulative aspect, when combined with the sentence for the core offending, resulted in an unjustifiably severe outcome.