Millard v The Queen (No 2)

The appeal concerned a sentence imposed by the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. The appellant, Millard, sought to appeal against the sentence, arguing it was manifestly excessive. The appeal also involved the recording of the sentence, specifically the backdating of the head sentence and the calculation of pre-sentence custody, which the appellant contended contained a miscalculation.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the head sentence imposed was manifestly excessive, and whether the Supreme Court had erred in its calculation of the notional commencement date for the sentence, necessitating correction under the slip rule.

The Court of Appeal found that the head sentence was not manifestly excessive. However, it determined that there had been a miscalculation in the recording of the sentence, specifically concerning the commencement date. The Court applied the slip rule to correct this error, amending the order to reflect a shorter head sentence and a later commencement date, thereby adjusting the period of pre-sentence custody.

The Court ordered that the reference in order 2 of the Supreme Court's order of 5 September 2014 be amended by omitting “4 years” and substituting “3 years and 9 months”, and by omitting “6 December 2013” and substituting “6 March 2014”.