R v Vea - [2019] NZHC 3422

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND CHRISTCHURCH REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA ŌTAUTAHI ROHE

CRI-2018-009-004423

CRI-2017-009-010361 [2019] NZHC 3422

THE QUEEN

v

SIMOTE VEA MICHAEL COOPER JOHNATHON SEAL

Hearing: 18 December 2019

Appearances:

B Hawes for the Crown

P Johnson for the Defendant Vea

P H B Hall QC and E Huda for the Defendant Cooper S J Hembrow for the Defendant Seal

Judgment:

19 December 2019

SENTENCING REMARKS OF NATION J

[1] I will just say to the defendants, it is obviously a tragedy for each of you and your families for you to be here being sentenced for this. You will understand that your counsel each filed detailed submissions, as did the Crown. I have read those carefully so what you have heard today only really touches on what has been put before me and what I have had a chance to consider carefully before sentencing you.

Introduction

[2] Michael Cooper and Johnathon Seal, you appear for sentence after each pleading guilty to a single charge of importing methamphetamine. That charge relates to what I will call the “Christchurch importation”. Simote Vea, you appear for

R v VEA, COOPER, SEAL [2019] NZHC 3422 [19 December 2019]

sentence after being found guilty by a jury of three charges of importing methamphetamine. One charge relates to the Christchurch importation. The other two relate to the Toa and Lau importations. The maximum penalty you each face is life imprisonment.

Facts

[3] I will deal with the facts of the Christchurch importation first and discuss the approach which the Court of Appeal say I should take on sentencing. I will then deal with your particular offending Mr Vea and fix the sentence. And, I will then deal specifically with the sentences for you Mr Cooper and Mr Seal.

The Christchurch importation

[4] On 1 November 2017, the New Zealand Customs Service took control of an imported consignment of 20 boxes of safety lamps weighing in total 250 kg. The consignment arrived in Christchurch from Mexico via the United States on a Singapore Airlines flight. The safety lamps were individually packaged in boxes. When examined by Customs, each box was found to contain a safety lamp along with two packages of methamphetamine concealed in the base of each lamp. Each package of methamphetamine weighed approximately 1.1 to 1.2 kg with a total weight of 39.7 kg and a purity of 80 per cent. The reference to the wholesale and street value of this importation in the summary of facts, on which you Mr Seal and Mr Cooper pleaded guilty, was deleted. The Court however knows from other cases that this importation was potentially worth millions of dollars on either a wholesale or retail basis.

[5] In Zhang, the Court of Appeal said that Mr Zhang had been sentenced on the basis methamphetamine, with a purity of 80 per cent, the same as applied with your importation, had a value of between $265,000 and $500,000 per kilogram. The value of…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Vea

Details

AGLC: R v Vea [2019] NZHC 3422
Case: [2019] NZHC 3422
Decision Date: 19 December 2019

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The High Court was asked to sentence three men who were involved in the importation of methamphetamine into New Zealand. The first defendant, Simote Vea, was found guilty of three charges of importing methamphetamine, while the other two defendants, Michael Cooper and Johnathon Seal, pleaded guilty to a single charge of importing methamphetamine. The maximum penalty they each faced was life imprisonment. The court considered the role each defendant played in the importations, the quantity of methamphetamine involved, and the potential social harm that could result from the importations. The court also considered the mitigating and aggravating factors relevant to each defendant. The court sentenced Simote Vea to 15 years and seven months in prison, with a minimum term of imprisonment of seven years and six months. Michael Cooper and Johnathon Seal were each sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison. The sentences for all three defendants were to run concurrently. The court emphasised the importance of deterrence and holding the defendants accountable for the harm that could result from their involvement in the importations.

Orders