R v Wu

[2020] NSWDC 342

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Wu [2020] NSWDC 342

Hearing dates:

4 June 2020

Decision date:

02 July 2020

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Mahony SC DCJ

Decision:

Custodial sentence to be served by way of intensive correction order; see [92]

Catchwords:

Commonwealth offence. Possession of tobacco products knowing they were imported with intent to defraud the revenue

Legislation Cited:

Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

Customs Act 1901 (Cth)

Evidence Act 1995

Cases Cited:

Hussein v R [2016] VSCA 212

R v Pham (2015) 256 CLR 550; [2015] HCA 39

R v Pullen [2018] NSWCCA 264

R v Saleh [2015] NSWCCA 399

R v Tieu [2019] NSWDC 485

R v Zerafa (2013) 235 A Crim R 265; [2013] NSWCCA 222

R v Zhang [2017] SASCFC 5

Weininger v R (2003) 212 CLR 629; [2003] HCA 14

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (Cth Crown)
Leifan Wu (Offender)

Representation:

Counsel:
B Robinson (Offender)

Solicitors:
C Kim (Cth Crown)
A Wright (Offender)

File Number(s):

19/137848

Publication restriction:

Nil

remarks on sentence

1. The offender is to be sentenced for an offence pursuant to s 233BABAD(2) of the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), of possess goods, being tobacco products, namely 368,480 sticks of various tobacco brands and 1.18 kilograms of loose tobacco, knowing that the goods were imported with intent to defraud the revenue.

2. The offender pleaded guilty to the offence in the Local Court. The maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine specified pursuant to s 233BABAD(5) of $1,513,055.55.

3. The offender was arrested on 2 May 2019. He was born on 2 April 1989 and was 30 years of age at the time of the offence.

The sentence hearing

4. The sentence hearing took place in Sydney on 4 June 2020. The Commonwealth Crown Sentence Summary became Ex A. It contained an Agreed Statement of Facts which may be summarised as follows.

5. On 1 May 2019, staff at Kennards Storage in Ultimo, having conducted a review of their accounts and identified that a particular unit, H214, was in arrears, entered the unit to prepare the contents for auction or disposal. They found a large quantity of tobacco labelled with foreign writing. The staff then changed the lock and notified the Australian Border Force (“ABF”).

6. At about 11am on the following day, 2 May 2019, a pregnant female wearing a pink jumper attended Kennards storage and paid $2,050.00 in cash to renew the lease and clear the arrears for unit H214. That female was later identified as Yiping Chen (aka Carrie), wife of the offender.

7. At about 2.50pm, ABF officers located the offender inside the Kennards storage unit H214 at Ultimo. He was placed under arrest and did not respond to an offer to participate in a formal interview. A large amount of imported tobacco was located in the unit.

8. Later that evening, a search warrant was executed at the residence of the offender in Oatlands. The offender’s wife conceded she had paid…