By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Between 1 January 2014 and 25 December 2019, Michael Shortland spent over 2,000 hours gambling at the Dee Why RSL, which saw him lose over $643,000, while the habitual gambler had also lost over $1 million at Sydney’s Star Casino over the period from 1 January 2000 through to… Read more »
Posts Categorized: NSW Courts
The Difference Between Cannabis Leaf and Plant for the Purpose of NSW Drug Offences
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim New South Wales police officers attended the residence of Jason Fear on 3 August 2021 to conduct a routine inspection under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW), which establishes the NSW Child Protection Register that lists former inmates who’ve offended against children in a sexual or other… Read more »
NSW Guideline Judgment on Drug Importation Struck Down by High Court of Australia
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In a 1999 Crown appeal hearing against the leniency of sentences imposed upon Nelson Tak Fat Wong and Jackie Kai Chu Leung in relation to import/possess a prohibited item, namely heroin, under since repealed section 233B of the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions requested… Read more »
Aggravated Domestic Violence Offences and Preventative Orders Introduced in NSW
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Having passed through both houses of NSW state parliament on 24 September 2024, the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 is the NSW state government response to the “preventable” murder of Molly Ticehurst at the hands of her ex-partner in April of this year…. Read more »
Prior Sexual Experience Is Admissible if a Relationship is Established at Time of Offending
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A NSW man referred to as Cook, not his real name, was convicted of 17 child sex offences by the NSW District Court in 2019, with the victim-survivor being his then wife’s niece, who was aged 9 to 11 over the course of the offending said to have occurred… Read more »
The Guideline Judgment on Sentencing Principal and Additional Offences
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim There are circumstances whereby a defendant pleads guilty to one or more criminal offence, known as the principal offence or offences, but there is an additional offence or offences for which he or she does not formally enter a plea or pleas of guilty, but admits to the offences… Read more »
Guideline Judgments in New South Wales: Enhancing Consistency in Sentencing
During a 2006 speech he gave at the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, then NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery addressed the inception and benefits of a relatively new sentencing regime that had recently been established – that being guideline judgements. As he recalled, NSW was heading for a March 1999… Read more »
Police Officer’s Sentence for Negligent Driving Occasioning Death Confirmed on Appeal
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim New South Wales police sergeant Matthew Kelly was driving a marked police car near Warnervale on the NSW Central Coast at around 2.20 pm on 16 April 2020, when he spotted a motorcycle ridden by Jack Roberts travelling along Sparks Road towards the entrance to the Pacific Motorway. Kelly… Read more »
Jarryd Hayne’s Successful Sexual Assault Appeal: The Reasoning Behind the Judgment
by Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Former Rugby League football star Jarryd Hayne stood trial three times in the District Court of New South Wales accused of sexual assault offences alleged to have been committed in 2018. After the first jury was ‘hung’, meaning it could not reach a verdict, he was twice found guilty,… Read more »
Inadmissible Hearsay Evidence Must Not Be Allowed Before Jury, Despite Absence of Challenge
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Jason Adams was staying at Nikita Hanson’s Raymond Terrace house on 28 February 2020, as a condition of bail, when the situation deteriorated to the point that Lily Ridgeway and two male friends arrived to assist her with evicting the man on conditional release. After being thrown out, Adams… Read more »