R v Glover

[2011] NSWDC 65

District Court

New South Wales

• Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Glover [2011] NSWDC 65

Hearing dates:

1 April 2011

Decision date:

12 April 2011

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Neilson DCJ

Decision:

Total sentence of 1 year and 10 months imprisonment, comprising a non-parole period of 11 months and the balance of the sentence

Disqualified from driving for 2 years

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Aggravated Dangerous Driving Occasioning Grievous Bodily Harm - PCA significantly above threshold - Poor driving record - Life threatening serious injury to child aged 2 years and 6 months

Victim was offender's son - Extra Curial Punishment of offender (severe injuries) - Extra Curial Suffering of offender (anguish and remorse for damage done to own child) - Hardship to primary and secondary victims of the crime (son and mother caused by effect of offender's incarceration) - Prosects of rehabilitation (enhanced by lengthy period
on parole)

Guideline Judgment considered - Not a case falling within the typical case under Crimes Act 1900 section 52A - Clash of competing sentencing principles

Legislation Cited:

Crimes Act 1900 s 52A(4)

Cases Cited:

Hughes v R [2008] NSWCCA 48
R v Dhanhoa [2000] NSWCCA 257
R v Dutton [2005] NSWCCA 248
R v Howcher [2004] NSWCCA 179
R v Jurisic (1998) 45 NSWLR 209
R v Koosmen [2004] NSWCCA 359
R v Whyte [2002] NSWCCA 343, 55 NSWLR 252
Rosenthal v R [2008] NSWCCA 149

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

Regina
Daniel Glover

Representation:

Mr C Irani (Crown)
Mr B Vasic (Offender)

File Number(s):

2010/119208

Judgment

1. HIS HONOUR: Daniel Glover stands for sentence as a consequence of adhering to a plea of guilty entered to a charge in the Local Court at the earliest available opportunity. That the plea was entered at the earliest available opportunity is accepted by the Crown. The charge to which the offender pleaded guilty is a very serious charge.

1. The charge was that on 6 March 2010 at Appin he did drive a vehicle, namely a white Mitsubishi Magna sedan registered number VMV 775, when it was involved in an impact occasioning grievous bodily harm to Ryder Glover and the time of the impact he was driving a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicating liquor in circumstances of aggravation, namely, that he had in his blood the prescribed concentration of alcohol, a reading of 0.212.

1. That is an offence contrary to s 52A(4) of the Crimes Act 1900 and Parliament has prescribed a maximum penalty of eleven years imprisonment. The offence can be shortly described as aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

1. At the time of the offence Ryder Nathaniel Glover was two years and six months old. Ryder is the offender's elder child and his only son. Ryder was severely injured.

1. I must state at the outset that the present sentencing exercise I have found to be a very difficult one, perhaps the most difficult I have been called upon to carry out in the last five years.

1. At about 10.25pm on…