Millwood v The King

In *Millwood v The King*, the appellant sought leave to appeal against a sentencing order made by the sentencing judge. The appeal concerned the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment and the conditions attached to its suspension.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the original sentencing judge had erred in imposing the sentence, and specifically, whether there were good reasons to wholly suspend the appellant's sentence of imprisonment. The court was required to consider whether the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive or inadequate, and whether the conditions attached to the suspended sentence were appropriate.

The court reasoned that a suspended sentence, when properly structured with appropriate conditions, constitutes a real and significant penalty. Applying this principle, the court determined that there were good reasons to wholly suspend the appellant's ten-month and five-day sentence of imprisonment, backdated to 3 May 2024. This suspension was made conditional upon the appellant entering into an 18-month good behaviour bond. The bond included specific terms requiring supervision, attendance at family and domestic violence or anger management courses as directed, and abstention from drug and alcohol consumption. The court also noted that an earlier intervention order remained unaffected by its decision.