Our client appeared before the Parramatta Local Court facing serious robbery-related offending, with the nature of the allegations placing him at genuine risk of a custodial sentence.
In the lead-up to sentence, our Criminal Law team undertook extensive preparation focused on the circumstances of the offending, the client’s personal background, rehabilitation and the steps he had taken to address the issues that had brought him before the Court.
At the plea hearing, we made detailed submissions as to why full-time imprisonment was not the appropriate outcome, despite the seriousness of the offending. NSW sentencing law requires a court to consider alternatives before concluding that imprisonment is the only appropriate penalty.
The Court ultimately accepted our submissions and spared our client from serving time in full-time custody, allowing him to remain in the community under a community-based sentencing order.
For serious robbery-related offending where imprisonment was a very real possibility, avoiding full-time custody was an exceptional result for our client and his family.
