Panomarenko v The State of Western Australia

The case of Panomarenko v The State of Western Australia involved an appeal against the sentence imposed on the appellant, Wayne Mark Panomarenko, who was convicted of sexual penetration without consent. The appellant had applied for an extension of time to appeal and leave to appeal against the sentence of 2 years and 6 months' immediate imprisonment. The appeal was heard by the Court of Appeal in Western Australia. The central legal issues were whether the sentencing judge erred in finding beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant video recorded the offending for the purposes of sexual gratification, and whether the sentence was manifestly excessive as to type.

The Court of Appeal found that the sentencing judge was entitled to find beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant's conduct in recording the offending by video was done for purposes which included, at least, the dominant purpose of sexual gratification. The Court held that the combined force of the facts and circumstances established a strong nexus between the appellant's obsession at the time with sexual gratification, on the one hand, and the appellant's action in covertly video recording the offending, on the other. The Court also concluded that the sentence of 2 years and 6 months' immediate imprisonment was reasonably open to the sentencing judge given the seriousness of the offending and the appellant's personal circumstances and antecedents.

Given these findings, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant's application for an extension of time within which to appeal and refused leave to appeal. The appeal was ultimately dismissed.