R v Hibeljic

The appeal concerned the sentencing of the appellant, R v Hibeljic, before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, comprising Peek, Blue and Doyle JJ. The dispute centred on the sentencing judge's refusal to grant the appellant's request for his prison sentence to be served under home detention.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court was whether the sentencing judge had erred in the exercise of her discretion by declining to make an order for home detention. This required the Court to consider the principles governing appellate review of sentencing discretion, specifically as articulated in *House v The King*.

The Court found that the appellant had failed to demonstrate an error in the sentencing judge's exercise of discretion, as required by the test in *House v The King*. This test requires an appellant to show that the sentencing judge made a mistake in law or in the application of the law to the facts, or that the sentence was so unreasonable that no judge could properly have imposed it. Without such a demonstration, the appellate court will not interfere with the sentencing judge's decision.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed.