Court dismisses appeal against sentence

Press, 14 May 1985, Page 4

Court dismisses appeal against sentence

PA Wellington The Court of Appeal has dimissed an application by the Solicitor-General for leave to appeal against a three-month jail sentence imposed on Ronald Albert Connell, aged 46, for what it said was a commercial fraud. The Court also dismissed Connell’s appeal against conviction on two fraud charges involving 5442,160 and 5467,160. Mr Justice Cooke, giving the judgment, said that from September 25 to October 25, 1984, Connell was tried on nine counts of various frauds alleged to arise from his activites as governing director of Southwest Helicopters, Ltd, or, after a change of the company’s name, RCS International (1981), Ltd. The trial Judge, Mr Justice Thorp, had discharged Connell on five counts, found him guilty on two, and not guilty on the other two. He jailed him for three months concurrently on each count. Connell appealed against the convictions. The Solici-tor-General applied for leave to appeal against the sentence. Mr Justice Cooke said that, Jn general, imprisonfor three months

would clearly be too small a penalty for a commercial fraud. On the other hand, there were certain mitigating factors. Connell, starting with no advantages in life and leaving school at the age of 12, achieved by his own efforts in the late 1970 s apparently remarkable business success. A change in a market in which Connell was working precipitated an equally rapid change of fortune and led to his succumbing to the temptation of deceiving a finance house. Evidently, and to a degree understandably, Connell believed that, if he staved financial disaster off for a time, all would come right again. His Honour said the lending organisation, in its willingness to take over the financing of Connell’s activities, also seemed to have been more optimistic than an objective and thorough examination of the circumstances would have warranted. “The Judge decided to extend to the accused such mercy as he properly could,” his Honour said. “On balance, although the decision is not an easy one, we are not prepared to interfere with the Judge’s discretion .. by increasing the sentendfc” ’