R v Ae

The Queensland Court of Appeal refused an extension of time to appeal against conviction and sentence for sexual offences, finding the seven-month delay was not adequately explained and that neither the proposed appeal against conviction nor the application for leave to appeal against sentence had any substantive merit. The Court noted that the applicant's bare assertion that he was advised not to give evidence at trial, which he now regretted, did not disclose a viable ground of appeal, and that an eight-year sentence was not prima facie excessive given the persistent nature of the offending, the age disparity, lack of remorse, and a prior conviction for unlawful carnal knowledge.