Court of Criminal Appeal Citation : Colangelo v WA

[2004] WASCA 294

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentence
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Manifestly excessive
5. › Drug trafficking
6. › Possession of methylamphetamine with intent to sell and supply
7. › Middle-range dealer
8. › Whether total effective sentence manifestly excessive
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentence
3. › Mitigating factors
4. › Plea of guilty
5. › Discount for guilty plea
6. › Whether plea entered at first reasonable opportunity
7. › Whether sentencing judge required to adopt two-tier approach with fixed percentage discount
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentence
3. › Totality principle
4. › Cumulative sentences
5. › Offence committed while on bail
6. › Whether cumulative sentence appropriate for continuation of same conduct

Quick Take

A total effective sentence of 6 years' imprisonment (equivalent to 9 years under pre-Sentencing Act provisions) is within the permissible range for a middle-range drug dealer possessing approximately 80 grams of methylamphetamine and 74 MDMA tablets across two occasions, where the second offence was committed while on bail. The motivation of financing one's own drug habit does not reduce criminality compared with offending motivated by greed.