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District Court 17 December 2025

R v Aldhaher

[2025] NSWDC 545

DrugsFirearms & weapons
OFFENDERS — PARITY — TOTALITY

Citation: R v Aldhaher [2025] NSWDC 545
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 17 December 2025
Judge: Newlinds SC DCJ

Background

Between mid-2022 and October 2023, the offender, a 33-year-old man, engaged in extensive criminal conduct involving the supply of prohibited drugs and illegal firearms in and around the Hunter Valley region of NSW. The drug offences spanned multiple categories, including methylamphetamine (commonly known as ice), MDMA (ecstasy), cannabis, and cocaine. The firearms offences involved the actual supply of and offers to supply illegal pistols and other prohibited firearms.

Some of the offending was conducted with a co-offender, whose identity remains subject to a non-publication order and who was separately sentenced by the same judge on 12 September 2025. The cannabis supply charge also overlapped with conduct for which two other individuals had been sentenced.

The offender was arrested on 26 October 2023 and has remained in custody since. He entered guilty pleas on 23 April 2025 at Newcastle Local Court, resulting in ten offences for sentence and a further seven matters to be taken into account on Form 1 documents (that is, additional offences formally acknowledged in sentencing without resulting in separate penalties).

  • What aggregate sentence was appropriate having regard to the objective seriousness of multiple large commercial drug supply offences and multiple firearms supply offences?
  • What weight should be given to the offender's strong subjective case, including mental health and medical conditions?
  • To what extent did the role of an undercover police officer in encouraging or inciting the firearms offending reduce the offender's moral culpability?
  • How should parity with co-offenders be maintained in fixing the sentence?
  • Was a finding of special circumstances warranted to adjust the ratio of non-parole period to head sentence?

Decision

The court characterised the overall criminality as serious. The drug charges included three counts of supplying large commercial quantities of methylamphetamine (totalling over seven kilograms across the three charges), carrying maximum penalties of life imprisonment each with a standard non-parole period of 15 years. The firearms charges carried maximum penalties of 20 years with a standard non-parole period of 10 years. The court acknowledged that the aggregate conduct represented a high level of criminality.

On the firearms offending, the court accepted the offender's submission that the undercover officer who was investigating the drug offences had, in a significant way, encouraged or incited the firearms offences. This finding was treated as a relevant mitigating factor going to the offender's moral culpability for that aspect of the conduct, though it did not eliminate the objective seriousness of the offending.

The offender received a 25 per cent discount on his sentence for entering early guilty pleas. The court also found special circumstances existed, noting that the offender's mental health and other medical conditions would make custody more onerous, and that a longer period of supervised parole would better support rehabilitation and community protection. The proportion of non-parole period to head sentence was adjusted accordingly, consistent with the approach taken for the co-offender.

Applying the principles of totality and concurrency, the court determined that while some accumulation of sentences was necessary given the breadth and variety of the offending, a large degree of concurrency was also required. The court was conscious of not imposing a crushing sentence disproportionate to the offender's overall criminality, and fixed the aggregate sentence at 11 years with a non-parole period of 6 years and 8 months.

Orders Made

  • The offender was sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 11 years, commencing 26 October 2023 and expiring 25 October 2034, across ten offences (Sequences 58, 66, 63, 62, 40, 41, 51, 52, 55 and 94), with Form 1 matters taken into account and after a 25% discount for early guilty pleas.
  • The non-parole period is 6 years and 8 months from 26 October 2023, expiring 25 June 2030, being the earliest date the offender is eligible for release on parole.
  • A non-publication order was made prohibiting disclosure of any fact or circumstance that might identify the co-offender, on the basis it is necessary to protect the safety of any person. The order applies outside New South Wales and remains in force until 17 December 2095.

Key Takeaways

  • The District Court confirmed that where an undercover police officer significantly encourages or incites criminal conduct, that fact is a relevant mitigating consideration going to the offender's moral culpability, even if it does not diminish the objective seriousness of the offending.

  • A finding of special circumstances can be supported by a combination of mental health conditions, other medical conditions that make custody more burdensome, and a genuine rehabilitative benefit from extended supervised parole.

  • Where multiple serious drug and firearms offences are sentenced together, the principle of totality requires the court to impose a large degree of concurrency alongside any accumulation, so that the aggregate sentence remains proportionate to the overall criminality rather than crushing.

  • Parity between co-offenders sentenced separately by the same judge requires consistency in the approach to special circumstances and the non-parole period ratio, absent any relevant distinguishing factors between the offenders.

  • A 25% discount for early guilty pleas remains available even where the objective seriousness of the offending is at the highest levels, reflecting the utilitarian value of the plea to the administration of justice.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), ss 25(1) and 25(2)
- Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), s 51(1A)(b), s 51B(1), s 74(1)
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 193B(3)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), s 25D(2)(a)
- Evidence Act 1995 (NSW)

Cases:
- Abbas, Bodiotis, Taleb and Amoun v R (2013) 231 A Crim R 413; [2013] NSWCCA 115
- Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571
- Chandab v R [2021] NSWCCA 186
- Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1; [2010] NSWCCA 194
- Dungay v R [2020] NSWCCA 209
- Hancock v R [2025] NSWCCA 213
- Jomaa v R [2022] NSWCCA 112
- Kada v The Queen [2017] VSCA 339; (2017) 270 A Crim R 197
- Koosmen v R [2025] NSWCCA 122
- Melikian v R [2008] NSWCCA 156
- R v Blair (2005) 152 A Crim R
- R v DW [2012] NSWCCA 66
- R v MacDonnell (2002) 128 A Crim R 44
- R v Pajou [2025] NSWDC 238
- R v Taouk (1992) 65 A Crim R 38
- R v Thomson and Houlton (2000) 29 NSWLR 383
- RO v R [2019] NSWCCA 183
- Taitoko v R [2020] NSWCCA 43
- Tyler v R [2007] NSWCCA 247