Catchwords

CRIMINAL LAW – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL AND INQUIRY AFTER CONVICTION – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE – APPEAL BY CONVICTED PERSONS – APPLICATIONS TO REDUCE SENTENCE – WHEN REFUSED – where applicant convicted on own plea of guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter – where sentenced to 18 months imprisonment - where applicant initially gave a false account to police – where applicant cooperated with police, but where this cooperation was entirely selfish and came very late – where prosecution thus lost the chance of presenting a cogent case against the primary offender – where applicant spent five and half months in pre-sentence custody – whether the sentence was manifestly excessive

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT – SENTENCE – FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT – MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS – IRRELEVANT FACTORS – TIME SPENT IN CUSTODY – where applicant had spent time in custody while subject to the charge of murder – where applicant was subsequently charged with being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter – whether a declaration under s 161 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) in relation to pre-sentence custody be made

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT – SENTENCE – FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT – MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS – MAXIMUM SENTENCE – GENERALLY – where the trial judge pointed to the inadequacy of the prescribed maximum under s 544 of the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) – whether the trial judge was entitled to diminish the weight given to circumstances of mitigation because of his view as to the inadequacy of the prescribed maximum penalty