Citation: R v Curreen [2010] NSWDC 247
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 3 September 2010
Judge(s): Berman SC DCJ
Background
The offender, Shannon Curreen, appeared for sentencing on eight counts of serious sexual offending against women who were strangers to him. The offences spanned a period from February 2009 to August 2009, with ten of the twelve victims assaulted in a concentrated frenzy of offending over just four days between 30 July and 2 August 2009.
The offending involved a consistent pattern: the offender targeted women who were alone and vulnerable, approaching them from behind, using a knife or threats of serious violence to subdue them, and then committing or attempting sexual acts. Several victims suffered actual bodily harm in the course of the attacks. DNA evidence matched semen recovered from two rape victims to the offender.
In addition to the eight counts on the indictment, the offender asked the court to take into account four further offences of indecent assault on four other women, placed on Forms 1 (a procedural mechanism under which additional offences are acknowledged in sentencing without separate convictions being recorded). The offender pleaded guilty.
Legal Issues
- What were the appropriate individual sentences for each of the eight counts, having regard to the objective seriousness of each offence and the applicable maximum penalties and standard non-parole periods?
- How should the totality principle be applied to produce a just overall sentence across eight serious and sequential offences?
- What weight should be given to the Forms 1 offences in the overall sentencing exercise?
- What discount, if any, was warranted for the offender's plea of guilty, and how did that interact with the standard non-parole period guideposts?
Decision
Berman SC DCJ assessed each offence individually before constructing an aggregate sentence through a cascading structure of consecutive terms. The two counts of aggravated sexual assault under section 61J of the Crimes Act 1900, committed against MS and KB, were treated as the most serious offences. Each carried a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and a standard non-parole period of 10 years. The court found each was slightly above the midrange of objective seriousness, given the deliberate targeting of lone women, the use of a knife, the nature of the sexual acts, and the apparent ejaculation in each case.
For the three counts of assault with intent to commit a serious indictable offence (under section 58 of the Crimes Act), the court imposed fixed terms of two years each, running consecutively. These offences, though serious, were distinguished from the completed sexual assaults. Three counts of inflicting actual bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse received fixed terms of six years each, also running consecutively, with differentiation made between victims who suffered multiple or more significant injuries.
The court applied the totality principle to ensure the overall sentence reflected the full criminality of the conduct without becoming crushing. The cascading consecutive structure placed the two aggravated sexual assault sentences at the end of the sequence, allowing a parole component to be preserved in the final sentence. Fixed terms were imposed on the earlier sentences precisely because the non-parole and head sentence structure of the final two counts carried the overall ratio required by statute.
Orders Made
- Assault with intent to commit an indictable offence (KH): fixed term of 2 years, commencing 25 August 2009
- Assault with intent to commit an indictable offence (VDS): fixed term of 2 years, commencing 25 August 2010
- Assault with intent to commit an indictable offence (DD): fixed term of 2 years, commencing 25 August 2011
- Inflicting actual bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse (VP): fixed term of 6 years, commencing 25 August 2012
- Inflicting actual bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse (MJC): fixed term of 6 years, commencing 25 August 2014
- Inflicting actual bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse (JL): fixed term of 6 years, commencing 25 August 2016
- Aggravated sexual assault (MS): non-parole period of 9 years, head sentence of 12 years, commencing 25 August 2018
- Aggravated sexual assault (KB): non-parole period of 5 years and 9 months, head sentence of 12 years, commencing 25 August 2022
- Overall effective sentence: non-parole period of 18 years and 9 months; head sentence of 25 years
- Earliest possible release to parole: 24 May 2028
Key Takeaways
- The District Court treated aggravated sexual assault under section 61J of the Crimes Act 1900, involving a knife and penile-vaginal intercourse with a stranger, as sitting slightly above the midrange of objective seriousness, even accounting for a guilty plea.
- Where a sentencing court imposes multiple consecutive terms, fixed terms may be used for earlier sentences to preserve the statutory non-parole-to-head-sentence ratio within the final, parole-eligible sentences.
- A standard non-parole period does not apply directly where there is a guilty plea, but the District Court confirmed it remains an important guidepost in calibrating the sentence.
- Victim impact statements were received and acknowledged as illustrating the foreseeable and long-lasting harm caused by serious sexual offending against strangers, though the court noted such harm is also captured in the standard non-parole period itself.
- Totality across eight consecutive terms was preserved by structuring sentences so that the aggregate reflected the full criminality of the conduct without producing an outcome that was disproportionate when viewed as a whole.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), sections 58, 61J
Cases:
- R v K [2000] NSWSC 176