Porter v The Queen

The appeal in *Porter v The Queen* was heard by Mossop, Baker and Bromwich JJ. The appellant sought to challenge his sentence imposed by the primary judge.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two primary grounds of appeal. First, whether the primary judge’s reasons for sentence were adequate, specifically concerning allegations of unattributed copying of prosecution submissions. Second, whether the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive, particularly in relation to factual findings concerning aggravating features of the offences and the classification of the offences within a hypothetical range.

The Court dismissed the first ground, finding that the reasons, read as a whole, indicated the primary judge had given independent and impartial consideration to the evidence and issues. However, the Court upheld the second ground, finding that the evidence was insufficient to support the estimate of the number of occurrences of abuse for the offence of engaging in a sexual relationship with a child under special care. The Court also determined that the sentence for the grooming offence was manifestly excessive, noting the limited utility of classifying offences within hypothetical ranges and the importance of the maximum penalty as a yardstick.

Consequently, leave to appeal was granted, and the appeal was allowed. The appellant was resentenced to a total effective sentence of 17 years’ imprisonment, with an overall non-parole period of 11 years.