R v Smith

In the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, Kynan Smith was convicted of sexual intercourse without consent and contravening a family violence order. The court was required to determine the appropriate sentence for these offences, considering factors such as the nature and circumstances of the offences, the offender's criminal history, and the impact on the victim. The court also had to consider the offender's plea of guilty and the time he had already spent in custody.

The court found that the offences were at the upper end of mid range objective seriousness due to the demeaning and controlling behaviour exhibited by the offender, the victim's vulnerability, and the context of domestic violence. The court considered the offender's extensive criminal history, which included previous offences of domestic violence against the same victim. The court also took into account the offender's plea of guilty, which was entered on the second day of the jury trial before the Crown opened its case. The court noted that the offender had spent 175 days in custody prior to the sentencing hearing.

The court decided that a custodial sentence was necessary to achieve the purposes of general and specific deterrence, protection of the victim and the community, denunciation of the offender's conduct, and adequate punishment. The court determined that the sentences for both offences should be served concurrently to a significant degree, with the sentence for contravening the family violence order being cumulative as to 8 months upon the sentence for sexual intercourse without consent. The court imposed an aggregate sentence of 40 months and 12 days, with a non-parole period of 28 months. The sentence was backdated to 10 December 2020 to take into account the time the offender had already spent in custody.

The court's orders were that the offender be convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 32 months and 12 days on the charge of sexual intercourse without consent, and for 21 months and 15 days on the charge of contravening a family violence order, with the non-parole period commencing on 10 December 2020 and ending on 9 April 2023.