By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A young man, who we will refer to as Mr C for the purposes of this article, commenced using drugs in his last year at a high school, as his girlfriend was using them. Eighteen months later, in late 2019, Mr C, who was regularly using MDMA by then,… Read more »
NSW Courts Articles
Court Dismisses Man’s Appeal to be Released After Serving His Sentence
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Written on the outside of two envelopes Christopher Hardy hand delivered to the Charlestown office of NSW Labor MP Jodie Harrison on 3 March 2017 was a message that read, “To the Minister, You are in TREASON, you will be hung until you are dead, No Mercy, No Prisoners, You… Read more »
Sentence Reduced as Judge Overstated the Objective Seriousness of the Offence
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim At around 9.50 pm on 24 June 2017, Jayden Mason was forcibly ejected from the Wyong Leagues Club for being drunk and disorderly. On his way out of the premises, the 21-year-old commenced threatening staff, and as he walked down Lake Haven Drive, he continued this same behaviour with… Read more »
Reductions in Penalties for Driving Whilst Suspended or Disqualified Have Not Increased Offending
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A 2013 NSW parliamentary report into the laws then applying to unauthorised driving found that cases were clogging up the NSW Local Court, penalties were disproportionately steep with no discretion to curb their severity, and their impact was causing havoc within the community. In response, the Berejiklian government passed… Read more »
NSW Considers Banning the Public Display of Nazi Symbols
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Any suggested government-imposed prohibition on the public display of a particular symbol is likely to provoke responses opposing the proposition as being yet another expression of Australia’s increasing authoritarian drift. However, according to NSW shadow counterterrorism minister Walt Secord, the proposal he recently tabled in his private members bill,… Read more »
Drug Lord’s Conviction for Murdering Meth Cook Overturned on Appeal
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The body of meth cook Sonny Nguyen was found on the side of the road in Bankstown in April 2013. He’d been strangled and his arms were bound. The body of his partner, Thi Kim Lien Do, was found decomposing in bushland in Hoxton Park the following January, with… Read more »
NSW Law Society and Bar Association tell Police Minister to Stop Spreading Misinformation about Bail
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Right now, those profiteering from the NSW prison boom must be rubbing their hands together with glee, as both major parties have stated that a number of recent bail decisions are reason to consider strengthening state bail laws, despite 2014 reforms having flooded facilities with remandees. The recent spat… Read more »
COVID-19: Courts Consider the Risk of Infection When Determining the Appropriate Sentence
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim. Storm Leigh Zerafa said he didn’t “give a fuck” and he would shoot the baby, as he stood on a fence brandishing a black gel blaster pistol outside his alleged drug dealer’s house in the southern NSW town of Sanctuary Point at around 2.30 am on 23 July 2020…. Read more »
Personal Factors Cannot Affect the Objective Seriousness of an Offence
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Moustaffa Zreika was driving a 6.5 tonne Hino Tipper truck down Burnett Street in Sydney’s Merrylands on 22 July 2017, when the vehicle crossed the double lines down the centre of the road, whilst attempting a slight left-hand bend. The truck sideswiped an oncoming car and then continued down… Read more »