Zanetti v The Queen

The applicant, Zanetti, sought permission to appeal against a sentence imposed by a sentencing judge in South Australia. Zanetti had been convicted of seven counts of trafficking in a controlled drug and one count of trafficking in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug under the *Controlled Substances Act 1984* (SA). As a declared "serious repeat offender," a non-parole period of four-fifths of the head sentence was fixed, pursuant to s 54(1) of the *Sentencing Act 2017* (SA).

The sole ground of appeal argued by Zanetti was that the sentencing judge erred in failing to find his personal circumstances to be so exceptional as to warrant a departure from the usual sentencing regime for serious repeat offenders under s 54(2) of the *Sentencing Act 2017* (SA). Zanetti contended that expert psychological evidence demonstrated his diminished capacity due to compromised mental health, coupled with his successful rehabilitation efforts, constituted exceptional circumstances that should have outweighed the community safety consideration and prevented him from being sentenced as a serious repeat offender.

The Court held that it was not reasonably arguable that the sentencing judge had erred in concluding that the exceptional circumstances test under s 54(2) of the *Sentencing Act 2017* (SA) was not satisfied. Consequently, permission to appeal against the sentence was refused.