R v McFarlane

James Graeme McFarlane was sentenced by Paul Davison J in the High Court at Tauranga. McFarlane was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The court was required to determine the appropriate sentence for this offence. The primary legal issue was to establish a suitable starting point for the sentence, taking into account the circumstances of the offence and relevant aggravating and mitigating factors.

The court first established the starting point for the sentence, considering the seriousness of the offence and its comparison to similar cases. The court found that McFarlane's offending fell within the less serious to moderately serious range, and set the starting point at 22 months' imprisonment. The court then considered mitigating factors such as the time McFarlane spent on restrictive bail, the lack of a discount for his late guilty plea, and his previous criminal history. The court determined that a discount of approximately 40% of the starting point was appropriate, reducing the adjusted starting point to 13 months' imprisonment.

Considering the sentencing purposes of holding McFarlane accountable, denunciation, deterrence, and community protection, the court decided that a community-based sentence was most appropriate. The court imposed a sentence of 12 months' supervision, 150 hours of community work, and directed McFarlane to attend the Waiariki Whānau Mentoring programme and any other counselling or programme as directed by his Department of Corrections Probation Officer.

In summary, the court sentenced McFarlane to 12 months' supervision and 150 hours of community work, with the special condition of attending the Waiariki Whānau Mentoring programme and any other counselling or programme as directed by his Department of Corrections Probation Officer.