Davies v Police

Bronson Davies appealed against his sentence of 19 months’ imprisonment, imposed by the District Court for theft and breaches of his previous sentences. The court had to determine if the sentence was manifestly excessive, as per the applicable legal principles. The appeal was based on the argument that the starting point for the sentence was too high and that the discount for the guilty plea should have been greater. The Crown conceded that the sentence was manifestly excessive but argued for a sentence of 12 months.

The court found that the starting point for the sentence was indeed too high, and the Judge had not followed the orthodox approach of identifying a lead charge and applying the appropriate uplifts. The court determined that an eight-month starting point was more appropriate. The two-month uplift for previous convictions was deemed appropriate, and the 20 per cent discount for the guilty plea was considered generous.

The appeal was allowed, and the sentence of 19 months’ imprisonment was quashed. It was replaced with a sentence of 11 months’ imprisonment, consisting of eight months for the theft charges over $1000, six months for the remaining theft charges, three months for the breach of intensive supervision, and two months for the breach of community work. The individual sentences were to be served concurrently, except for the breach of intensive supervision, which was to be served cumulatively.