The Court convicted the defendant of failing to comply with a Local Court order under s 251 of the POEO Act but imposed a fine of only $8,000 (from an assumed maximum of $60,000), finding the offence was at the low end of objective seriousness because non-compliance was driven by impecuniosity rather than deliberate defiance. The Court declined to order costs (nearly $30,000) on the basis that the combined financial burden would exceed the defendant's means and that the conduct overlapped with the prior offence for which penalties were still being paid. The Court left unresolved whether a s 251 offence for failure to comply with a Part 8.3 order by a specified date is a continuing offence or a once-and-for-all offence under the Deemah Stone framework, proceeding on the assumption most favourable to the defendant.
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