R v Ravet

The appeal concerned the sentence imposed on the appellant, who had pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated robbery, one count of attempted theft, and one count of dangerous driving to avoid police pursuit. The appellant was sentenced to a total of 15 years and 11 months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years. The appeal was heard by Duggan, Sulan, and David JJ of the Supreme Court of South Australia.

The legal issues before the court were whether the sentencing judge erred in finding the sentence manifestly excessive, whether the totality principle was applied correctly before considering the pleas of guilty, and whether an arithmetical approach to sentencing was inappropriately adopted. The offences occurred over a three-week period in late 2008 and involved armed robberies of several hotels and a bottle shop, as well as a dangerous police pursuit that resulted in a collision and minor injuries to occupants of other vehicles. The appellant was 23 years old at the time of sentencing and was on parole when the offences were committed.

The court dismissed the appeal regarding the length of the sentence of imprisonment. While acknowledging the appellant's guilty pleas and the totality principle, the judges found no error in the sentencing judge's approach. The court determined that the sentence imposed was not manifestly excessive, considering the gravity and number of offences, the use of weapons, the impact on victims, and the appellant's prior offending history, including being on parole at the time. However, the appeal was allowed in respect of the licence disqualification period. The court reduced the disqualification period to two years, commencing from the date of the offences.