A solicitor's misappropriation of approximately $347,000 in client trust funds over three years may attract periodic detention rather than full-time custody where there has been extensive delay between committal and sentence during which the offender has significantly rehabilitated. The fullest discount for a guilty plea is available only where the plea is entered at the outset; maintaining a defence until shortly before trial, even where the offender facilitates proof of factual matters, does not attract the fullest discount but may still warrant a reasonable discount on utilitarian grounds.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.
3 of the 7 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.