Bekink v R

(1999) 107 A Crim R 415; [1999] WASCA 160

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Conditions of imprisonment
4. › Restricted management regime
5. › Lock down
6. › Whether harsher than normal prison conditions reductive of sentence
7. › Whether appellate intervention appropriate where conditions not known to sentencing judge
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal
3. › Sentence appeal
4. › Fresh evidence
5. › Evidence of post-sentence events
6. › Conditions of imprisonment
7. › Whether conditions render sentence substantially more arduous
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Principles
4. › Equal justice
5. › Parity
6. › Arbitrary disparity in conditions of imprisonment between prisoners

Quick Take

A sentencing court is required to take into account the reductive effect of hardships not ordinarily experienced by ordinary prisoners that an offender may endure in prison through circumstances subjective to him. However, where the offender's involvement in a restricted management regime is purely fortuitous, of uncertain duration, and relatively short compared to the overall sentence, appellate intervention is not appropriate. Anderson J's reasoning, if followed, would deny any basis for linking sentence length to prison conditions that are not personal to the offender.