R v Summers

The applicant, Mr Summers, appealed against his sentence for four criminal counts: attempted robbery (assault with intent to steal, using actual violence), possession of a dangerous drug (cocaine), possession of a dangerous drug (cannabis), and receiving tainted property (a mobile phone). The trial judge had sentenced Mr Summers to 12 months imprisonment for the attempted robbery count, and three months for each of the remaining counts, to be served concurrently, with a parole release date set for 6 July 2015.

The appeal focused on whether the sentence was manifestly excessive. The court considered the circumstances of the offence, Mr Summers’ intoxication, and his prior criminal history. The court also noted that Mr Summers had already served 26 days of his sentence. The appeal court found that the trial judge had given insufficient weight to mitigating factors and that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

Accordingly, the appeal court granted leave to appeal and allowed the appeal, setting the parole release date at 31 March 2015. The court confirmed the sentences otherwise imposed on 9 March 2015. The final orders were that the application for leave to appeal against sentence was granted, the appeal was allowed, the order setting the parole release date at 6 July 2015 was set aside and replaced with a parole release date of 31 March 2015, and the sentences otherwise imposed were confirmed.