R v Gardner HC Christchurch CRI-2006-009-013850

[2007] NZHC 1840

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND CHRISTCHURCH REGISTRY

CRI-2006-009-013850

REGINA

v

CHRISTOPHER JOHN GARDNER

Hearing:         14 June 2007

Counsel:        K J Beaton for Crown

T Fournier for Prisoner

Sentence:       14 June 2007

SENTENCE OF PANCKHURST J

Mr Gardner:

[1]      You are for sentence this morning upon a charge of possession of LSD for supply.  The facts of the case are straight-forward.  On 24 June last a bailiff went to your home address and seized a vehicle which was parked outside.  A search of the car revealed the existence of a back-pack and what is described as a travel pouch. Within them were found 33 tabs of LSD, some loose point bags, a methamphetamine pipe, scales, a tick list and a small quantity of cannabis.   I note, a further small

quantity of that drug was also found within the house.

R V C J GARDNER HC CHCH CRI-2006-009-013850  14 June 2007

[2]      Focusing for the moment upon the LSD, the evidence is that the street value of that drug is of the order of $30-$40 per tablet and on that basis the quantity which you were found in possession of has a value in the range of $1,000-$1,300.

[3]      Despite the range of items found in your possession which seemed to be indicative of dealing in cannabis, you have already appeared in the District Court and been dealt with on charges of possession of utensils and possession of cannabis (2) in relation to which you were fined.  Belatedly, following an arraignment at a call- over in this Court last month, you entered a plea to the present charge.

[4]      The pre-sentence report discloses that you are 26 years of age.  You have no previous criminal convictions, the matters you have been dealt with on in the District Court arising at the same time as this matter.  The report conveys to me that you are a single man with few commitments; that you are a drug user and that you have lead a lifestyle that reflects that in recent times.  On the other hand I note that you have worked as a roofer throughout the period that seems to be relevant to this charge. One comment in the report which particularly captured my attention was your observation that “going to prison is probably a blessing in disguise” as you could not keep up the level of use that you had been involved in.

[5]      You must know that the sentence for dealing in a class A drug such as LSD is inevitably one of imprisonment.  It has not been suggested in this case that there is any scope to deviate from that sentencing course.

[6]      The Crown has suggested that a starting-point of the order of two to two and a half years of imprisonment should be adopted, while Mr Fournier argues that an end sentence in the range of nine to 15 months would be appropriate.

[7]      I have been referred to, and considered, a significant number of past cases involving similar quantities of LSD, where people have been sentenced for selling it or possession of it for the purpose of sale.  In my assessment, Mr Gardner, you were dealing at a lowish level.  I have little doubt that you were probably doing so in order to finance your own drug habit.  I think the appropriate starting-point in your case is two  years  imprisonment.    I  allow  from that  a deduction  of  about  20-25%  and

therefore arrive at an end sentence of 18 months imprisonment.  Had your plea been earlier, the allowance for it would have been greater.   The standard conditions of release will apply.

[8]      The  issue of leave  to  apply  for  release  to  home  detention  has  not  been debated, but it is something about which I have given considerable thought.  I am not satisfied that it is appropriate.  This was involvement in, dealing in, a class A drug. That counts against the extension of leave.   Nor, in my view, are there sufficient positive indications in the report to warrant leave and for these reasons it is declined.

You may stand down.