Samson v WA

[2011] WASCA 173

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Sexual offences against children
4. › Sexual penetration of child under 13
5. › Severity of sentence
6. › Whether sentence manifestly excessive
7. › Criminal Code (WA), s 320(2)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Mental illness
4. › Paranoid schizophrenia
5. › Effect on sentencing considerations
6. › Whether specific deterrence should be moderated or eliminated
7. › Mitigating effect of mental illness offset by risk of reoffending and need for community protection
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal against sentence
3. › Manifest excess
4. › Whether sentence indicative of implied error
5. › Range of discretionary sentences
6. › Criminal Appeals Act 2004 (WA), s 31(4)

Quick Take

Where an offender's mental illness reduces the weight to be given to personal deterrence, that mitigating effect may be entirely offset by the increased risk of reoffending and the correspondingly greater need for community protection. Any moderation in the weight given to personal deterrence because of mental impairment can only potentially apply to the risk of future offending in the post-custodial period. The sentencing ranges for sexual offences against children referred to in LSC and Podirsky are no longer reliable given the 'firming up' of sentences in this area.