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District Court 2 October 2020

R v La

[2020] NSWDC 722

Drugs
CRIME SENTENCE SUPPLY PROHIBITED DRUG ONGOING SUPPLY MDMA COCAINE

Citation: R v La [2020] NSWDC 722
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 2 October 2020
Judge: Bourke SC DCJ

Background

The offender, Mr Joshua La, appeared for sentencing on three drug supply offences arising from separate incidents in 2018. The first involved arranging for a woman to smuggle 350 MDMA capsules (26.68 grams) into the "Midnight Mafia" music festival at Sydney Olympic Park in May 2018. Police discovered the drugs concealed on the woman's person and recovered text messages linking the offender to the arrangement.

The second and principal offence was ongoing supply of 97.9 grams of cocaine and 5.5 grams of MDMA between 20 May and 15 June 2018. During that period the offender operated as part of a cocaine distribution syndicate, receiving stock from a supplier named John Nguyen, selling to a customer base on an almost daily basis, and reporting back to Nguyen each night. The third offence arose from his arrest on 15 June 2018, when police observed him purchasing 28.3 grams of cocaine for $6,500 from an upline supplier. Two further matters (knowingly participating in a criminal group, and possessing 1.7 grams of cocaine) were placed on a Form 1 to be taken into account at sentencing.

The offender pleaded guilty at an early stage and made full admissions to police following his arrest. His plea attracted a 25 per cent discount for its utilitarian value.

  • How serious were the three offences, and where did they fall on the objective scale of seriousness?
  • What weight should be given to the early guilty plea, the offender's subjective circumstances, and the Form 1 matters?
  • How should individual sentences be structured and combined, including the application of the totality principle and the principle against crushing sentences?
  • Whether special circumstances existed to justify a non-parole period that departs from the standard ratio.

Decision

His Honour assessed all three offences as objectively serious. The festival supply offence involved planning, a commercial purpose, and the known dangers associated with drug use at music events. The ongoing supply offence was the most serious: it covered more than three weeks of near-daily dealing, a total of around 103 grams of cocaine and MDMA, and the offender's knowing participation in an organised criminal syndicate with a defined hierarchy.

On subjective matters, the court accepted the offender's early plea, his cooperation with police, his relatively young age, and his absence of prior drug convictions as mitigating factors. However, his prior criminal history (which included dishonesty and driving offences) and the need for personal and general deterrence, given the prevalence of drug supply offending, remained significant considerations. The court also noted the additional hardship of serving the sentence during the COVID-19 pandemic, with its restrictions on family contact.

Applying the totality principle, the court found a substantial overlap between the ongoing supply offence (sequence 4) and the purchase offence committed on the day of arrest (sequence 7), treating the latter as part of the same syndicate activity. Accordingly, those two sentences were largely concurrent. The Midnight Mafia offence stood as discrete offending and required some degree of accumulation.

A finding of special circumstances was made on two grounds: this was the offender's first period of full-time custody, and a longer period of post-release supervision on parole was warranted.

Orders Made

  • Offender convicted on all three counts.
  • Aggregate sentence of three years and three months imposed.
  • Non-parole period of one year and ten months.
  • Both periods to date from 10 January 2020, crediting time already served.
  • Head sentence to expire 9 April 2023; non-parole period to expire 9 November 2021.

Indicative sentences (had separate terms been imposed):
- Sequence 2 (supply MDMA): two years imprisonment.
- Sequence 4 (ongoing supply, including Form 1 matters): two years and four months imprisonment.
- Sequence 7 (supply cocaine): one year and three months imprisonment.

Key Takeaways

  • The District Court treated participation in an organised drug supply syndicate, including daily dealing, reporting to a hierarchy, and receiving restocked supply, as a substantial aggravating feature that placed the ongoing supply offence at a significant point on the objective seriousness scale.
  • Where two offences arise from the same criminal enterprise and one is essentially a component of the other, the totality principle supports concurrent or largely concurrent sentences rather than accumulation.
  • A finding of special circumstances is available where an offender faces their first period of full-time custody and where a lengthened period of parole supervision is considered necessary for rehabilitation.
  • An early guilty plea, full admissions at arrest, and cooperation with authorities remain meaningful mitigating factors, reflected here in a 25 per cent discount off the sentence.
  • Sentencing courts may take into account the added hardship of imprisonment during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly where restrictions limit family contact, as a relevant but not determinative subjective consideration.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), including s 3A (purposes of sentencing)
- Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW)

Cases cited: No cases were cited in the judgment as provided.