Evans v Commissioner of Police [2008] QDC 118

1 [2008] QDC 118 DISTRICT COURT APPELLATE JURISDICTION JUDGE ROBIN QC No BD2743 of 2007 GREGROY JOHN EVANS Appellant and COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Respondent BRISBANE ..DATE 19/05/2008 JUDGMENT Catchwords Justices Act 1886, s 222, s 229 - Appeal against wholly suspended sentence in which a District Court Judge had dispensed with the appellant's outline of argument and certificate of readiness being filed and fixed a hearing date (not availed of) - registrar fixed new hearing date, notifying appellant at his address given in his notice of appeal of a new hearing date - appeal dismissed under s 229. -- 1 of 3 -- 2 JUDGMENT 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 HIS HONOUR: This appeal is dismissed under section 229(3) of the Justices Act 1886, the appellant having failed to appear. It's the second occasion when that's been the situation. He failed to appear before Judge McGill on the 30th of April last year when an order was made dispensing with the appellant's outline of argument, in circumstances, I might note, where his appeal documents stated grounds very fully. The Certificate of Readiness was also dispensed with and the appeal was listed for hearing on the 28th of May last year. For some reason it hasn't come on. Helpfully, it's been suggested by Mr Burrow for the respondent, that the difficulty was in finding a useful address for Mr Evans. In respect of today's hearing, the instigation for which is the Court's desire to get its list in order, the Court has sent the requisite notice that the appeal will be heard today to Mr Evans by posting it on the 22nd of April of this year to his address as notified in the Notice of Appeal. It's an appellant's obligation to provide the Court with a usable address. He can hardly complain if the address which he chooses to leave on the record unchanged becomes inappropriate. The appeal is in respect of a Magistrate's sentence of one months' imprisonment wholly suspended for an operational period of 18 months imposed on the 15th of December 2006 for a single count of failing to comply with a reporting obligation under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004. There are extenuating circumstances, perhaps, relating to a change in Mr Evans' residential arrangements and some -- 2 of 3 -- 3 JUDGMENT 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 resulting confusion, which if they had been placed before the Court in the proper way as evidence might have led to the view being taken that the punishment was excessive. It had crossed my mind to temporise in the circumstances and go some distance towards providing Mr Evans with a limited degree of success by reducing the operational period so that it would expire today. There's no particular reason to think he would let himself or the community down by offending in the next few weeks. In the circumstances, I won't make that order but will peremptorily dismiss the appeal under the section mentioned. ----- -- 3 of 3 --