R v MacDermott

[1996] QCA 557

COURT OF APPEAL

[1996] QCA 557

McPHERSON JA
DOWSETT J

WHITE J

CA No 388 of 1996
THE QUEEN
v.

HELEN LOUISE MacDERMOTT Applicant

BRISBANE
..DATE 12/11/96
121196 T29/JB M/T COA282/96
DOWSETT J: This is an application for leave to appeal against
sentences passed in respect of seven counts of misappropriation.

The applicant and her husband were both charged and convicted of offences arising out of the use of credit cards. The applicant is 35 years old, having been born on 5 January 1961.

The circumstances of the case are not otherwise relevant for reasons which will appear. We have had the benefit of certain information provided to us by the applicant in the course of argument which indicates that her son is presently suffering a certain medical condition which requires continued attention. We also have been told of certain other circumstances surrounding the commission of the offences in question.

We are inclined to the view that it is appropriate that we intervene in this case. The original sentence was, with respect to three of the counts, imprisonment for two and a half years, and on the other counts imprisonment for two years, with a recommendation for parole after nine months.

For the reasons which I have given, we will reduce the recommendation for parole so that she may be considered for parole after serving a period of four months. It is unlikely that this decision will constitute a useful precedent in other cases.

McPHERSON JA: I agree.

WHITE J: I agree also.
121196 T29/JB M/T COA282/96
McPHERSON JA: The order of the Court is that the application
for leave to appeal is granted. The appeal is allowed to the
extent of reducing the period before the applicant is considered
for parole from nine months, as stated in the original orders,
to four months. That will be the order of the Court.

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