Summers v Tasmania

Summers appealed against a sentence imposed by the Supreme Court of Tasmania. The appeal concerned alleged errors in the sentencing judge's factual findings, particularly regarding the benefit derived by the appellant from her crimes of dishonesty and the assertion of an adverse fact by the Crown that was contradicted by the appellant without the conflict being resolved by evidence.

The central legal issues before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Tasmania were whether the sentencing judge had made specific errors of fact that warranted interference with the sentence, and whether the sentence imposed was appropriate in light of these alleged errors and the principle of parity with a co-offender.

The Court found that the sentencing judge had made multiple errors of fact. Specifically, the judge had erred in finding the benefit to be obtained by the appellant from the crimes of dishonesty, and had also erred by treating an adverse fact asserted by the Crown as established when it was contradicted by the appellant and the evidence did not resolve this conflict. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the sentence imposed on 4 September 2015 was quashed, and the proceedings were adjourned for two years pursuant to section 7(f) of the Sentencing Act 1997, conditional upon the appellant undertaking to be of good behaviour for that period.