R v Staltari

The case of R v Staltari involved an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (SA) for leave to appeal against the sentence imposed on the defendant by the District Court. The defendant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six years with a non-parole period of two years and six months, both backdated to 18 January 2006. The offences for which the defendant was sentenced included assault, criminal trespass, theft, unlawful possession, and carrying an offensive weapon. The sentencing Judge was not informed that the defendant's parole had been transferred and formally registered in South Australia, a fact that was directly relevant to the sentence to be imposed.

The legal issues in this case centred around the application of section 75 of the Correctional Services Act 1982 (SA). This section mandates that if a person is sentenced to imprisonment for an offence committed while on parole, they must serve the balance of the sentence, or sentences, of imprisonment in respect of which they were on parole. The question was whether the sentencing Judge, who was not aware that the defendant's parole had been transferred and formally registered, erred in not applying section 75 of the Correctional Services Act. The crux of the appeal was whether this oversight constituted an incomplete view of the facts that led to an error in sentencing.

The court granted leave to appeal and allowed the appeal, finding that the sentencing Judge did indeed sentence with an incomplete view of the facts and erred in not applying section 75 of the Correctional Services Act. The mandatory nature of section 75 in these circumstances meant that the defendant should have been required to serve the remaining period of his unexpired parole cumulatively upon his sentence. Consequently, the defendant was re-sentenced to a head sentence of four years and four months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 months. The head sentence will commence after the defendant has served the unexpired period of parole of one year, six months, and two days, while the non-parole period commences immediately.