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Supreme Court 11 April 2003

R v Jasper

[2003] NSWSC 287

DrugsFraud & dishonestyPublic order & justice offences
SENTENCING POLICE CORRUPTION BRIBERY PERVERT COURSE OF JUSTICE, ETC

Citation: R v Jasper [2003] NSWSC 287
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 11 April 2003
Judge(s): Dunford J

Background

The prisoner was a detective who had served with the Manly/Davidson Local Area Command until his suspension in December 2000. Over a sustained period, he participated in a pattern of systemic police corruption alongside other detectives from the same command.

His conduct included under-reporting the quantities of illegal drugs and cash seized during search warrant executions, then sharing the undisclosed money with fellow officers. This had a direct downstream effect on prosecutions: occupiers were charged with lesser offences, granted bail more readily, and received lighter penalties than the true facts warranted. He also solicited and received bribes in exchange for ignoring evidence of drug cultivation and trafficking, at one point explicitly telling an offender that continuing to deal in drugs would require payments to three police officers.

A separate but related strand of offending concerned his involvement with a heroin dealer named Vincent Caccamo. The prisoner received money from Caccamo in exchange for allowing Caccamo's drug trafficking to continue, knowing the payments derived from those proceeds. One further count involved supplying information to a burglar about suitable premises and receiving a share of the stolen proceeds.

  • What sentences were appropriate across thirteen counts of guilty pleas spanning bribery, perverting the course of justice, accessory before the fact to break, enter and steal, and related corruption offences?
  • How should the parity principle apply, given that a co-offender (Detective Patison) had already been sentenced by the same judge?
  • What weight should be given to the prisoner's early guilty pleas and his assistance to authorities as mitigating factors?
  • How should the sentencing structure (concurrent versus cumulative terms) reflect the totality of the offending without producing a crushing aggregate sentence?

Decision

Dunford J identified the offending as representing a complete abdication of the responsibilities of a police officer. Drawing on his earlier remarks in sentencing co-offender Patison, his Honour emphasised that bribery strikes at the heart of the justice system and demands serious punishment whenever detected. The persistence of this conduct after the Wood Royal Commission, which had publicly exposed and sought to address precisely this kind of misconduct, was a matter of particular concern.

On mitigation, the prisoner received credit for pleading guilty at the first available opportunity on both indictments. Although he delayed entering pleas on the second indictment until a threshold legal challenge to two counts had been resolved, Dunford J accepted that the challenge was legitimate and successful, so no adverse inference was drawn. His Honour also gave weight to the prisoner's cooperation with authorities, which extended beyond providing information to an undertaking to give evidence if required.

The parity principle governed the overall sentencing outcome. Because several of the prisoner's offences were identical to those for which Patison had already been sentenced, Dunford J held it necessary to have regard to Patison's sentences. This remained the case even though the Director of Public Prosecutions had lodged an appeal against Patison's sentences on the ground of manifest inadequacy. The court noted that Patison's conduct was broadly comparable in nature and volume.

Applying these principles, Dunford J structured the sentences in three partially accumulating groups, with sentences within each group running concurrently. The result was an effective total of seven years imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years, matching the overall sentences imposed on Patison.

Orders Made

Indictment dated 13 December 2002:

  • Count 1: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2003, expiring 26 February 2006
  • Count 2: 4 years, commencing 27 February 2003, expiring 26 February 2007; non-parole period of 3 years
  • Count 3: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2003, expiring 26 February 2006
  • Counts 1, 2 and 3 to be served concurrently
  • Count 4: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2004, expiring 26 February 2007
  • Count 7: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2004, expiring 26 February 2007
  • Count 6: 4 years, commencing 27 February 2004, expiring 26 February 2008; non-parole period of 3 years
  • Counts 4, 6 and 7 to be served concurrently, partly accumulative on counts 1, 2 and 3
  • Count 5: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2005, expiring 26 February 2008
  • Count 8: Fixed term of 3 years, commencing 27 February 2005, expiring 26 February 2008
  • Count 9: 5 years, commencing 27 February 2005, expiring 26 February 2010; non-parole period of 3 years
  • Counts 5, 8 and 9 to be served concurrently, partly accumulative on all other counts

Indictment dated 31 October 2002:

  • Count 1: Fixed term of 2 years, commencing 27 February 2006, expiring 26 February 2008
  • Count 2: 4 years, commencing 27 February 2006, expiring 26 February 2010; non-parole period of 2 years
  • Count 3: Fixed term of 2 years, commencing 27 February 2006, expiring 26 February 2008
  • Count 4: Fixed term of 2 years, commencing 27 February 2006, expiring 26 February 2008
  • All counts on the second indictment to be served concurrently, partly accumulative on sentences from the first indictment
  • Earliest parole eligibility: 26 February 2008
  • Overall effective sentence: 7 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 5 years

Key Takeaways

  • Police corruption of this kind, characterised by sustained bribery, deliberate under-reporting of drug seizures, and the sale of law enforcement inaction, was treated by the Supreme Court as among the most serious categories of criminal misconduct, warranting significant custodial terms.
  • The parity principle required Dunford J to align the prisoner's sentences with those already imposed on co-offender Patison, even though an appeal on the ground of manifest inadequacy was on foot against Patison's sentences at the time of this sentencing.
  • A guilty plea at the first available opportunity attracted meaningful mitigation credit, and no adverse inference arose from a defendant delaying a plea until a legitimate and ultimately successful legal challenge to certain counts had been resolved.
  • Assistance to authorities, particularly where it included an undertaking to give evidence, was treated as a relevant mitigating factor alongside the early pleas.
  • In constructing a sentence for multiple counts spanning two separate indictments, the totality principle shaped a structure of partially accumulating concurrent groups, producing a single coherent effective sentence rather than an aggregate that would be crushing relative to the overall criminality.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 112, 148, 188, 249B, 319, 346
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 21A, 32
- Police Service Act 1990 (NSW), s 200

Cases:
- R v Patison [2002] NSWSC 1248
- R v Pangallo (1991) 56 A Crim R 441