An offender who uses a security clearance or position of trust to facilitate drug importation cannot be characterised as a courier or person low in the hierarchy; the breach of trust aggravates the offence and lifts the matter well above the criminality of a low-level participant. Parity considerations do not preclude the Court from intervening on a Crown appeal to correct a manifestly inadequate sentence, even where the co-offender's sentence (not appealed) was itself lenient. Section 68A of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) applies to Commonwealth offenders, precluding reliance on a presumption of double jeopardy anxiety but permitting consideration of actual anxiety and distress on resentencing.
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