Ross v Mothersole

The defendant, Ross, appealed against his conviction and sentence in the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court for domestic violence offences, including serious assault. The appeal was heard by the ACT Supreme Court, which found that the magistrate had erred in imposing a sentence that did not adequately account for the defendant’s guilty plea and the level of culpability.

The legal issues before the court were whether the sentencing judge had failed to properly consider the effect of the defendant's guilty plea on the sentence, and whether the sentencing judge had made the necessary findings of culpability. The court needed to determine if the sentences imposed were appropriate in light of these considerations, particularly given the serious nature of the assault.

The court found that the sentencing judge had not sufficiently accounted for the effect of the defendant's guilty plea on the sentence. The court also found that the sentencing judge had not made the necessary findings of culpability. These errors meant that the sentences imposed were manifestly inadequate. The court held that the sentencing judge should have imposed a sentence of two years’ imprisonment for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm, with a non-parole period of 10 months.

The appeal was upheld, and the sentence on the count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was set aside, to be replaced with a sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment to date from 19 February 2010. The other sentences were confirmed, resulting in a total head sentence of 30 months. A non-parole period of 10 months to date from 19 February 2010 was also set.