The Court held that the equitable principle treating a person knowingly involved in another's breach of trust as a defaulting trustee (Barnes v Addy) is not an appropriate analogy when assessing levels of culpability for criminal sentencing purposes; sentencing culpability focuses on what the offender actually did rather than legal consequences that might attach in other areas of law. The Court also held that online vilification of the victim by third parties on social media was a foreseeable consequence of the offending and constituted an aggravating factor under s 21A(2)(g). On parity, the Court found that the co-offender's status as a serving police officer who exploited confidential information, combined with differences in role, motivation, and subjective circumstances (including MB's untreated ADHD, complex trauma, and susceptibility to influence), justified a materially lower sentence of 6 years imprisonment (NPP 3 years 10 months) compared to the co-offender's 10 years (NPP 6 years).
The full text is available to signed-in members.