When sentencing for historical sexual offences committed prior to the Sentencing Act 1989 (NSW), the sentencing practice at the date of offending — under which non-parole periods were usually set at between one-third and one-half of the head sentence — constitutes special circumstances justifying departure from the statutory proportion under the current legislation. An effective non-parole period of approximately 75 per cent of the aggregate sentence is erroneous for offences of this period. The principle applies to offences committed under both the Parole of Prisoners Act 1966 and the Probation and Parole Act 1983.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 16 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 16 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.