R v McMahon

Sandra Jacqueline McMahon was sentenced in the High Court of New Zealand for her involvement in a large-scale cannabis operation. She pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of cannabis for supply, one count of selling cannabis, and one count of money laundering. The court found that McMahon and her son had been running a substantial drug dealing operation for at least seven years, with over 150 customers. The police investigation revealed that McMahon was selling cannabis on a daily basis and had made over one pound (490 grams) of cannabis packaged for sale, along with $5,070 in cash, at the time of her arrest.

The legal issues in the case involved determining the appropriate starting point for sentencing, considering the nature and scale of McMahon's offending, and assessing the aggravating and mitigating factors. The court considered the purposes and principles of sentencing, including holding McMahon accountable for her offending, denouncing her actions, deterring her and others from similar offending, and ensuring her rehabilitation.

The court found that McMahon's offending was large-scale commercial offending, placing her in the most serious category. It assessed the scale of the operation by considering the facts presented and concluded that a starting point of eight years imprisonment was appropriate. The court also considered the money laundering charge as an aggravating feature, justifying a small uplift of six months. McMahon's previous convictions warranted an additional six-month uplift. The court allowed a 25% discount for her guilty plea, resulting in a final sentence of six years and nine months imprisonment, to be served concurrently on all charges.

The final orders of the court were that McMahon be sentenced to six years and nine months imprisonment on each of the charges of possession of cannabis for supply, six years and nine months imprisonment on the charge of selling cannabis, and three years imprisonment on the charge of money laundering, all to be served concurrently.