Mrs PADGHAM-PURICH - 1997-02-19
Can the Attorney-General tell me what he can do, by amending legislation within his portfolio responsibility, to prevent the completely inexplicable and unfair situation of a person recently being given only a 6-month prison term for assault which appeared to cancel out the 6 months each for 2 similar assaults and 4 months each for 2 other assaults, all committed on the one occasion?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the honourable member is referring to concurrent and cumulative sentencing that is left to the discretion of the magistrate or judge. Such sentences are generally allocated where there has been an episode of crime. For example, such an episode could be dealt with by sentencing concurrently whereas individual episodes related to the same actual crime - for example, stealing a car and then robbing a bank - would require cumulative sentencing. I will take the question on notice and obtain more detail of this particular case.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the honourable member is referring to concurrent and cumulative sentencing that is left to the discretion of the magistrate or judge. Such sentences are generally allocated where there has been an episode of crime. For example, such an episode could be dealt with by sentencing concurrently whereas individual episodes related to the same actual crime - for example, stealing a car and then robbing a bank - would require cumulative sentencing. I will take the question on notice and obtain more detail of this particular case.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016