The Court sentenced PBI to a fine of $120,000 for a category 2 WHS offence arising from a worker's serious injuries when caught in the unguarded rollers of a conveyor, finding the offence fell in the mid-range of objective seriousness. The Court assessed an appropriate fine of $320,000, applied a 25% discount for the early guilty plea (yielding $240,000), but further reduced the fine to $120,000 on account of PBI's demonstrated limited capacity to pay, while emphasising that capacity to pay does not act as a ceiling on penalty and that general deterrence remained a significant consideration. On the question of capacity to pay within a corporate group, the Court held that assessment must be made in the context of the commercial realities in which the offender operates, but distinguished the case from Aussie Skip Bins on the basis that intercompany loans had not been a feature of PBI's operations.
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