For offences of picking threatened plant species under s 118A(2) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, the custody threshold requires a combination of both serious damage or risk of serious damage AND a very high degree of culpability; deliberate conduct in reckless disregard of warnings, without actual knowledge that plants were threatened species, does not reach the requisite culpability even where environmental harm is serious. Prior good character carries less mitigating weight in environmental offences because such offences are typically committed by persons of good character. The utilitarian value of a guilty plea is reduced where the offender contests the factual basis for sentencing and the contested matters necessitate a lengthy sentencing hearing.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 152 later cases that cite this judgment.
8 of the 152 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.