Parfenova v Diss

In Parfenova v Diss, the appellant, Iryna Parfenova, appealed against her conviction by a magistrate of an offence of public nuisance on a train in Perth, Western Australia. The appeal against conviction was dismissed by Hall J. Parfenova sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The appeal was heard by Buss P, Beech JA, and Vaughan JA on 5 February 2021. The appeal was dismissed on 24 March 2021. The appeal was heard on five proposed grounds, but the court considered only the first and fifth. The appeal was dismissed because the proposed grounds did not have a reasonable prospect of succeeding. On the first ground, Parfenova alleged that there was a breach of a common law duty of disclosure by the non-disclosure of CCTV footage surrounding the incident. This was rejected because no allegation of miscarriage of justice was made in the intermediate appeal, which was required for this court to consider the issue. The court also rejected the argument that there was a substantial miscarriage of justice, as the evidence admitted at trial proved Parfenova's guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The fifth ground alleged that the primary judge erred in fact in finding that abuse on the platform immediately prior to the events did not excuse or provide a defence for Parfenova's conduct on the train. This was rejected because Parfenova did not identify any available defence that might have been open to her had there been abuse as alleged. The appeal was dismissed.