Courts must note stiffer penalties — judges

Press, 29 September 1979, Page 6

Courts must note stiffer penalties — judges

Two judges yesterday ex-; pressed a need for the; courts to take more notice! of maximum penalties, while the Attorney-General (Mr; McLay) defended his appear-' ance in the Supreme. Court at Rotorua on Thursday by, .saying it was proper for him; ; to make submissions reflec-i ting the community’s con-' cent. In Wellington, the president of the Court of Appeal '(Sir Clifford Richmond) said; the courts now had to impose sen.ences in drug cases' , which properly reflected al-' terations made to maximum penalties by the Misuse of! Drugs Amendment Act, 1978, 1 reports the Press Associ-l ation. In the Supreme Court at; Auckland. Mr Justice Sin-] dair said it was time the courts took more notice of l the maximum 14-year jail

■ (penalty for armed robbery. 1 >i Sir Clifford, in a reserved ■ judgment, dismissed an ap-■ peal by Constantinos Spar-; ■ talis, aged 26, a fishmonger,; ■'against a 10-year jail sen-' . fence imposed in the Su- ■ i preme Court at Wellington ’ 'on a charge of possessing! ■'heroin for supply. ■i The other members of the.' Court were Mr Justice! Cooke and Mr Justice Rich-. Lardson. , j Sir Clifford said the sen-' •tencing judge had said that ■ ■although the amount Of he-, ■ roin found in the appellant's; possession had been com!paratively small, the very] ,'fact that he had been able to' buy in such quantity meant ■ he had been accepted by the 'higher levels of the drug (scene. He had been found with I two packets with a total of 11 g of white powder con-;

gaining 1.203 g of pure he roin.

“It follows that the present appeal is a very important one because our decision must necessarily affect the pattern of future sentencing,” said his Honour.

“The sentence of 10 years in the present case is substantially more severe than would have been imposed under the previous legislation. It is indeed a very severe sentence.

“Nevertheless we consider that it is a sentence which the judge could properly imipose having regard to the policy of Parliament, the ■degree of involvement of the appellant in dealing in heroin, and the widespread public concern regarding the menace of heroin in our community.” In Auckland, Mr Justice

Sinclair sentenced two men’i ■ who had held up a Post; Office teller at gun point to i ;7J years jail. ! *He said armed robbery] j was on the increase and heavier terms of imprison- j ment had to be imposed as ail (deterrent to others and to protect the public. Before him were Raymond i Scott, aged 24, and Grant 1 ! Leonard Walker aged 21, ’ both of Auckland, who had;l been found guilty by a jury of robbing the teller of more'i than $2OO at the White h Swan Road Post Office in' < April. it In Wellington, Mr McLay expressed surprise at the re-: I action ta his appearance asp Crown prosecutor at the ( sentencing in Rotorua ofj< three men and a juvenile on;< charges arising from an at-il tack on two police con-1 stables at Tauranga on Aug-|(

ust 19. i He said the Attorney-Gen-eral was the senior Crown i law officer and as such it I was proper and appropriate that he should appear for the Crown from time to ■ time. The case had involved a ■ serious assault On policemen, including the hitting of one of them on the head with a sledgehammer when ;he had been on the ground. There had been widespread public concern about ■assaults on law-enforcement 'officers acting in the course of their duties. “In such circumstances 1 'believe it is proper for the 'senior law officer of the Crown to appear and make submissions relfecting the community’s concern,” said Mr McLay. “Any suggestion that the Court would be unduly in-

jfluenced because the counsel ■lappearing was the AttorneyGenera] is just nonsense. .: "Although it has not been common for the Atrorney- ■ General to appear on behalf of the Crown in New Zealand, though he has from time to lime done so, the Attorney-General in the United Kingdom has fulfilled I this role for centuries and there has never been any ! suggestion that such a role lis improper. ! “Indeed, it is regarded as part Of the ordinary functions of the office of Attor-ney-General. “Prior to entering politics I was a practising court lawyer. I think it is desirable that a Minister with a direct working experience within the area of his own portfolio should occasionally be seen to be working at the ‘coal face'.”