R v Gander

In the case of R v Gander, the applicant appealed against the severity of the sentence imposed by the sentencing judge. The applicant had pleaded guilty to multiple offences of dishonesty and an attempt to pervert the course of justice. The sentencing judge imposed five years imprisonment on the attempted fraud counts and lesser concurrent sentences on other counts. Additionally, the judge activated a suspended sentence of one year to be served cumulatively. The applicant argued that the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive.

The court was required to determine whether the sentence imposed was indeed manifestly excessive and if so, to what extent the sentence should be varied. The legal issues centered around the appropriate punishment for the crimes committed and the proportionality of the sentence in relation to the crimes.

The court found that the sentence was manifestly excessive. The court allowed the appeal and varied the orders made on 29 October 2004 by reducing the sentences for the attempted fraud counts from five years to four years, with all sentences to be served concurrently. Furthermore, the court ordered that the concurrent terms of imprisonment totalling four years be served cumulatively upon the activated suspended sentence of one year. Finally, the court recommended that the applicant be considered for post-prison community-based release after serving two years of the total period of imprisonment, on 11 August 2006.