Roberts v Redpath Haulage Pty Ltd - [2018] TASSC 33

[2018] TASSC 33

COURT: SUPREME COURT OF TASMANIA

CITATION: Roberts v Redpath Haulage Pty Ltd [2018] TASSC 33

PARTIES:  ROBERTS, Stuart
  v
  REDPATH HAULAGE PTY LTD

FILE NO:  LCA 3672/2017
DELIVERED ON:  29 June 2018
DELIVERED AT:  Hobart
HEARING DATE:  12 June 2018
JUDGMENT OF:  Geason J

CATCHWORDS:

Magistrates – Appeal and review – Tasmania – Motion to review – Appeal against sentence – Crown alleged sentence is manifestly inadequate – Magistrate sentenced for breach of the Heavy Vehicle National Law – Magistrate erred in exercise of sentencing discretion – Magistrate failed to take into account relevant considerations – Sentence manifestly inadequate.
Aust Dig Magistrates [1345]

REPRESENTATION:

Counsel:
             Appellant:   E Bill
             Respondent:  P Sullivan
Solicitors:
             Appellant:  Director of Public Prosecutions
             Respondent:  P Sullivan

Judgment Number: [2018] TASSC 33
Number of paragraphs: 34

Serial No 33/2018

File No LCA 3672/2017

STUART ROBERTS v REDPATH HAULAGE PTY LTD

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT GEASON J

29 June 2018

This appeal concerns the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Tasmania) (HVNL). The HVNL is part of a national scheme based upon the HVNL (Queensland) 2012 and enacted in Tasmania by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Tasmania) Act 2013. It has been enacted in all States and Territories except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The appellant appeals the inadequacy of the sentence imposed upon the respondent by Magistrate Fairley for a breach of s 96(1) of the HVNL. A breach of s 96(1) constitutes an offence under s 183(2) of the HVNL. The particulars of the charge were as follows:
"2 Charge: Severe risk breach of mass requirement applying to a heavy vehicle
Breach of: Section 96(1) of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Tasmania), a relevant offence of section 183(2) of that Act.
Particulars: You are charged as the operator of a heavy vehicle, namely a tandem axle pig trailer towed by a 3 axle rigid truck, registration numbers DU0334 and Z85VA, that on or about 1:00pm on 3 June 2016 on the Bass Highway at Forest Farm, Meander Valley, a road in Tasmania, a person, namely Murray James McCall, drove that heavy vehicle combination, when the mass of the tandem axle pig trailer with its load measured a mass of 18.8 tonne, thereby exceeding the mass requirement of 15 tonne for that heavy vehicle by 3.8 tonne."
The Respondent pleaded guilty. The learned magistrate imposed a penalty of $850. The respondent was ordered to pay court costs of $82.15.

The facts

On 3 June 2016 a driver employed by the respondent was operating a heavy vehicle comprising a white Volvo three axle rigid truck towing a tandem axle heavy pig trailer, transferring potatoes from Red Hills in the Meander Valley to Forth. The distance between the two is approximately 40 kilometres. It passes a weigh station.
The vehicles were registered to the respondent. The Volvo truck complied with the mass requirements applying to it but the pig trailer did not. It was weighed at 18.8…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Roberts v Redpath Haulage Pty Ltd

Details

AGLC: Roberts v Redpath Haulage Pty Ltd [2018] TASSC 33
Case: [2018] TASSC 33
Decision Date: 29 June 2018

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Roberts was involved in a road accident, resulting in the death of two individuals. Redpath Haulage Pty Ltd, the employer of Roberts, was charged under the Heavy Vehicle National Law. Following a trial, Roberts was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. The magistrate sentenced Roberts to a penalty deemed inadequate by the Crown. The Crown appealed the sentence in the Supreme Court of Tasmania.

The legal issues before the court were whether the magistrate erred in the exercise of sentencing discretion and whether the sentence was manifestly inadequate. The Crown argued that the magistrate failed to consider several relevant factors in sentencing Roberts, including the gravity of the offence, the loss to the victims' families, and the need for deterrence.

The court held that the magistrate had indeed erred in the exercise of sentencing discretion by failing to adequately consider several relevant factors. The court found that the sentence was manifestly inadequate given the gravity of the offence and the need for deterrence. The court quashed the sentence and remitted the matter to the magistrate for re-sentencing.

The final orders of the court were that the appeal be allowed, the sentence quashed, and the matter remitted to the magistrate for re-sentencing. The court emphasised the importance of considering all relevant factors in sentencing and the need for sentences to reflect the seriousness of the offence and the need for deterrence.

Orders