WA v Polmear

[2013] WASCA 291

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Drug offences
4. › Dealing and trafficking in dangerous drugs
5. › Pre-sentence order
6. › Whether immediate imprisonment the only appropriate sentencing disposition
7. › Whether pre-sentence order available where compliance could not result in non-custodial sentence
8. › Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), s 33A(3)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Drug offences
4. › Sentencing principles for drug trafficking
5. › Predominance of general and personal deterrence
6. › Relevance of personal circumstances
7. › Whether departure from immediate imprisonment justified
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal
3. › Prosecution appeal against sentence
4. › Appeal against pre-sentence order
5. › Criminal Appeals Act 2004 (WA), s 24(1)(b)

Quick Take

A pre-sentence order under s 33A(3) of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA) is not available for serious drug dealing offences involving numerous transactions over an extended period, even where the offender has a dysfunctional background and has taken some steps towards rehabilitation, because immediate imprisonment is and will remain the only appropriate sentencing disposition for such offending. Low-level street dealers who are vital links in the drug distribution chain are not to be treated as less culpable merely because they operate at the bottom of the drug hierarchy.