R v Doolan - [1998] QCA 386

[1998] QCA 386

COURT OF APPEAL
McMURDO P
McPHERSON JA

SHEPHERDSON J

CA No 175 of 1998
THE QUEEN
v.

SHANN LLOYD DOOLAN Applicant

BRISBANE
..DATE 08/10/98
081098 D.1 T39/IK29 M/T COA257/98
SHEPHERDSON J: Shann Lloyd Doolan has sought leave to appeal
against sentences imposed on him on 14 May 1998 in the
District Court at Townsville. The applicant had been tried by
a Judge and jury on the following offences committed on
8 February 1997 at Townsville:
Count 1Entering the dwelling house of Alic Joseph Drier in the

night-time with intent to commit an indictable
offence therein; and

Count 2 Unlawfully assaulting Drier and thereby doing him

bodily harm and at the time being armed with a
knife and in company with James Ray Wood.

Wood was charged with the same offences and both were convicted on 13 May 1998 after a joint trial which had lasted three days.

On Count 1 the applicant was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment suspended after serving two years of that term and the learned trial Judge declared an operational period of five years.

On Count 2, the applicant was sentenced to two years' imprisonment to be served concurrently. The sentences imposed on Wood were count 1 - two years' imprisonment suspended after serving four months of that term and an operational period of two years. Count 2 - four months' imprisonment concurrent with the sentence in Count 1.

The applicant was born on 5 January 1964 and so was 33 years
old when he committed the offences. The complainant Drier had
known the applicant for about 15 years and in early 1996 he
081098 D.1 T39/IK29 M/T COA257/98
had lent the applicant $20. Despite repeated requests, the
money was not repaid and animosity developed between Drier and
the applicant with threats being made on both sides.

Drier was 28 years old at the time of the offences and he resided with his common law wife, Janine, who was a cousin of the applicant. In early 1997, Drier saw the applicant in a Townsville nightclub. Drier was with Janine and he offered the applicant an end to hostilities between them. The applicant responded with a threat, a fight ensued and the applicant ended up unconscious on the ground. Police were called. Drier was a boxer.

The next morning the applicant and four or five other people came to the home of Drier and Janine. The applicant wanted to fight Drier but he declined. Before leaving, the applicant smashed some louvres, smashed a few pot-plants and kicked Drier's car.

About a week later - at about 3.00 a.m. on 8 February 1997, Drier was asleep in the lounge room of his high-set home. Janine was asleep in another room. Drier gave evidence that he was expecting that the applicant might come around again and he lay on the couch trying to keep awake. He fell asleep and awoke to see James Wood holding open the front door and holding a knife…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Doolan

Details

AGLC: R v Doolan [1998] QCA 386
Case: [1998] QCA 386
Decision Date: 8/10/1998

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of R v Doolan, the applicant, Shann Lloyd Doolan, sought leave to appeal against the sentences imposed on him by the District Court at Townsville. Doolan was convicted on two counts: entering the dwelling house of Alic Joseph Drier in the night-time with intent to commit an indictable offence, and unlawfully assaulting Drier and causing him bodily harm while armed with a knife and in the company of James Ray Wood. Both Doolan and Wood were tried jointly and convicted. The court imposed sentences of four and a half years' imprisonment, suspended after two years, and two years' imprisonment, to be served concurrently, on Doolan, while Wood received a two-year suspended sentence for the first count and a four-month concurrent sentence for the second count.

The key legal issues the Court of Appeal had to decide were whether the trial judge erred in exercising his sentencing discretion by not giving due consideration to certain factors, such as Doolan's lack of recent comparable criminal convictions, the indirect causation of Drier's injuries, and the disparity in sentences between Doolan and Wood. The applicant also argued that the trial judge failed to consider the principles relating to parity of sentences.

The Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered by Shepherdson J, found that the trial judge did not err in his sentencing discretion. The court noted that Doolan had a significant criminal history, including multiple convictions for dishonesty, breaches of court orders, drug-related offences, and assault occasioning bodily harm. The court also highlighted that Doolan was the driving force behind the commission of the offence and that his lack of remorse and false statements to the police were aggravating factors. In comparison, Wood had a less severe criminal history and his involvement was largely due to misguided loyalty to Doolan. The court concluded that Doolan had not demonstrated that the sentences imposed were manifestly excessive or that the trial judge erred in the exercise of his sentencing discretion. The appeal was therefore refused by the Court of Appeal.

Orders