The Court of Appeal of the Northern Territory has original jurisdiction to consider a new ground of appeal based on sentencing disparity with a co-offender sentenced after the Supreme Court's decision, and may receive fresh evidence of the co-offender's sentence under s 54 of the Supreme Court Act 1979 (NT) unconstrained by the limitations in s 176A of the Local Court (Criminal Procedure) Act 1928 (NT). The judgment provides a comprehensive 13-point synthesis of the principles governing admission of fresh evidence in sentencing appeals. A nine-year age difference between co-offenders, combined with significantly different levels of culpability and the application of youth sentencing principles to the younger offender, can justify a substantial disparity in sentencing outcomes including the difference between actual imprisonment and home detention.
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