R v Chatfield No 2

The matter before the court was an appeal against the refusal of bail by the applicant, Chatfield. The applicant sought bail due to the death of his sister, which he claimed constituted a change in circumstances warranting a reconsideration of his bail application. Chatfield's sister had passed away, and he argued that his obligations in relation to her funeral and the care of her children constituted a significant change that should influence the bail decision. The court was required to determine whether the death of the applicant's sister was a sufficient change in circumstances to warrant a reconsideration of the bail application and whether the risk of the applicant failing to appear in court outweighed the other factors considered in bail applications.

The court examined the criteria for granting bail, including the risk that the applicant would fail to appear in court, the nature and seriousness of the offence, and the circumstances of the case. The court noted the applicant's history of evading arrest and his recent failure to comply with an intensive correction order. Additionally, the risk of the applicant offending while on bail was raised by his conceded offending during his current custodial period. The court concluded that the decision to refuse bail was not based on unsubstantiated police suspicions but rather on the applicant's history of evading arrest and the risk of reoffending while on bail.

The court found that the death of the applicant's sister did not constitute a change in circumstances sufficient to warrant a reconsideration of the bail application. The court was not persuaded that the applicant's obligations in relation to his sister's funeral and the care of her children constituted a significant change in circumstances that should influence the bail decision. The court found that the risk of the applicant failing to appear in court outweighed the other factors considered in bail applications. Therefore, the court refused the applicant's application for bail.