By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim
Joshua Dennis approached the reception counter at the Adina Apartments in Wollongong at 3.05 am on 30 August 2022, and he commenced conversing with night manager Amos Baker. After a few minutes of speaking, however, 40-year-old Dennis then walked around to the other side of the counter and punched 47-year-old Baker in the face, and the night manager fell to the ground.
Baker then lay bleeding and motionless as Dennis punched him more than 30 times in the face using his closed fists. So ferocious was the attack that Baker couldn’t defend himself. Dennis then collapsed on top of his victim in exhaustion for about 50 seconds, prior to standing up and stepping on the victim’s stomach as he was leaving the scene.
CCTV footage showed Baker attempting to get to his feet to seek help for about 10 minutes following the attack, but he was unable to do so.
On fleeing the scene, Dennis walked up some stairs in the building, kicked his way through a backdoor, jumped over a railing and landed on another building two metres below, and he left his fingerprint on a handrail.
Dennis then went to the Wollongong police station, and he walked in and asked for a cigarette. An officer queried why he was out so late, to which Dennis replied, “I’ve murdered someone.” The officers in attendance then noted blood on him. And the man then explained he’d “lost the plot” after the night manager had refused to open the door, following his going out for a cigarette.
New South Wales police officers arrived at the Adina Apartments at 4 am to find Baker on the floor with extensive facial injuries. He was taken to the hospital and placed in an induced coma. The victim suffered multiple injuries, including those to the brain, and he had no memory of the attack. Baker underwent multiple surgeries, and he wasn’t discharged from the rehabilitation hospital until January 2023.
A ferocious attack
Dennis pleaded guilty in the Wollongong Local Court to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, contrary to section 33(1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). This crime carries up to 25 years imprisonment, along with a standard non-parole period (SNPP) of 7 years.
An SNPP is a guidepost or reference point for a sentencing judge, when determining the minimum term an offender must spend behind bars before being eligible to apply for release on parole.
In assessing the objective seriousness of the crime as above midrange if not at the upper end, Wollongong District Court Judge Sharon Harris took into account that the offence was unplanned and unprovoked, that Baker, as night manager, was in a vulnerable position, and the assault was sustained.
In fact, Dennis collapsed in exhaustion due to ferocity of the attack, while Baker could not get up off the ground afterwards. And the victim remained in hospital for 4 months and suffered post-traumatic amnesia for 42 days, which indicates severe brain damage. In fact, the victim still required ongoing treatment 18 months on, and this was going to continue for the foreseeable future.
Reports from Dr Richard Furst, a psychiatrist, and Dr Li Liane Kho, a psychologist, outlined that Dennis had experienced a troubled upbringing and began using illicit drugs in his early teens. Furst diagnosed him with substance use disorder, antisocial personality disorder and ADHD. Dennis was likely intoxicated at the time of offending, and he told Kho he was horrified about what he’d done.
Her Honour also found special circumstances due to Dennis’ childhood, so he was given a longer period of conditional release in the community than required in law, as it was assessed beneficial. Section 44 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) provides that a parole period must not exceed a third of the overall time of sentence, unless special circumstances are found.
On 15 March 2024, Judge Harris sentenced Dennis to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment, with non-parole set at 7 years. This sentence reflected a 25 percent discount due to the utilitarian value of his early guilty plea.
Assistance provided to police
Dennis then appealed his sentence to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (NSWCCA) on 25 June 2025. He did so based on the sole ground of appeal that the sentencing judge had been in error by failing to consider the applicant’s immediate disclosure of his offending to the police as a form of assistance to authorities – which under the law entitles a person to an additional discount on sentencing – as well as failing to consider that same act as specific evidence of his remorse.
The utilitarian value of Dennis’ admissions to police, according to his criminal defence lawyer, was that it avoided an extensive criminal investigation, saved police the time of having to track down the offender for arrest, and enabled the police to deal with the victim in a timely manner.
The failure to provide a separate discount for the admissions was error because section 23 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) gives the court the power to impose a lesser penalty, including a reduced prison sentence, due to the assistance provided to police.
The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that the sentencing judge was correct in not considering a discount under the Act, as subsection 23(3) prohibits the court from imposing “a sentence which… [is] unreasonably disproportionate to the nature and circumstances of the offence”.
The prosecution further argued that the sentencing judge had in deed considered that the confession to the police was a sign of remorse, and evidence by a lesser sentence being handed down than would otherwise have been imposed, in accordance with section 21A(3)(i) of the Sentencing Procedure Act, which provides that remorse should be considered as a mitigating factor on sentencing an offender.
NSWCCA Justice Deborah Sweeney set out in her 30 July 2025 findings that she was satisfied that the confession in the police station shortly after the incident “was evidence of remorse and was assistance to police, which enabled the victim to receive more timely attention, of which he was clearly in need”.
In considering the stipulations set out in section 23(2) of the Sentencing Procedure Act, which serve to indicate whether a discounted sentence is warranted in respect of the actual incident, her Honour found that the information provided to police was timely, truthful, reliable and of benefit to the victim.
The justice further noted that it was uncertain why this was not raised by the defence at trial, but it certainly consisted of a miscarriage of justice, and therefore, the ground was made out.
Majority upheld
So, on the 30 July 2025, Justice Sweeney determined to allow the appeal and resentence Dennis. Her Honour indicated that a 7.5 percent discount was warranted due to the assistance he’d provided to police, and this would be applied in addition to the 25 percent discount due to his early guilty plea.
Justice Sweeney resentenced Dennis to 6 years imprisonment, with non-parole was set at 3 years. And as NSWCCA Justice Peter Garling agreed with her findings, it meant that a majority of the three-justice-bench was in favour of the orders and therefore, this new sentence was applied to Dennis.
However, NSWCCA Justice Christine Adamson dissented, finding that no sentence reduction was required, as Dennis, after having considered he had killed someone, waited 40 minutes prior to handing himself into police, and he asked the officers on duty for a cigarette before confessing. So, her Honour found that no discount was warranted, and the sentencing judge had not been in error.
