WA v Hassell

[2014] WASCA 158

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Sexual offences against children
4. › Indecent dealing with child under 13
5. › Whether suspended sentence manifestly inadequate
6. › Whether immediate imprisonment the only appropriate disposition
7. › Criminal Code (WA), s 320(4)
8. › Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), s 39(3)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Mitigating factors
4. › Participation in video-recorded police interview
5. › Whether participation in interview without more is mitigatory
6. › Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), s 8(1)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal
3. › State appeal against sentence
4. › Manifest inadequacy
5. › Residual discretion not to interfere
6. › Criminal Appeals Act 2004 (WA), s 41(4)(b)

Quick Take

Participation in a video-recorded police interview is not, without more, a mitigating factor on sentence; there must be something about the interview that rationally decreases the offender's culpability or the extent to which they should be punished. The ordinary disposition for offences under s 320(4) of the Criminal Code (WA) is immediate imprisonment, and departure from that norm requires rare and exceptional circumstances.