The principle of consistency in sentencing from Lowe v The Queen extends beyond strict co-offender cases to situations where offenders are engaged in the same activity for the same purpose on the same day, even if they are not co-offenders. However, the disparity with a non-co-offender's sentence does not of itself require appellate intervention; the sentence must be assessed against the range of sentences for the relevant offences. For supply of prohibited drugs less than the commercial quantity where the offender has a prior conviction for a similar offence, full-time custody is appropriate but the sentence must reflect sentencing statistics and the one-off nature of the offending.
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