William Bugmy sentence review: Court of Criminal Appeal to consider social disadvantage
Lawyers for an Aboriginal man jailed for partially blinding a prison guard have asked a court to throw out a crown appeal against the leniency of his sentence.
The jail sentence given to 32-year-old William Bugmy has been presented to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal for a second time.
A District Court judge originally gave him a six-year sentence for throwing a pool ball at a guard in Broken Hill in 2011, blinding the guard in one eye.
The sentence was increased by 18 months in the Court Of Criminal Appeal after prosecutors argued it was too lenient, but in 2013 the High Court ruled the appeal court had not given enough weight to his social disadvantage
It was the first time in 30 years that the High Court had addressed the issue of whether Aboriginal disadvantage was a defence in sentencing.
The original District Court sentence had taken his social disadvantage, which included a violent upbringing, drug and alcohol addictions and poor schooling, into account.
That sentence was based on what are known as "the Fernando principles" which relate to the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders.
The first Court of Criminal Appeal determined the relevance of Mr Bugmy's background of social deprivation must diminish over time, but the High Court's 2013 decision confirmed the principles do apply to offenders with long criminal records.
The court previously heard Bugmy had been in and out of jail since the age of 12, following a violent and abusive upbringing that included moving between foster homes, drug and alcohol addictions, and poor schooling and mental health outcomes.
Bugmy faced the Court of Criminal Appeal today by video link.
A three-judge panel heard the crown appeal again but reserved its decision to a later date.
Outside court, Stephen Lawrence from the Western Region Aboriginal Legal Service said the court was being asked to consider what it meant in the context of sentencing to give full and proper weight to an Aboriginal offender's history of social deprivation.
"We've asked the court today to dismiss the crown appeal against Mr Bugmy's sentence," he said.
"This is a really complicated case that's been to the High Court Of Australia.
"It's impossible to predict what the court might do. The court heard a carefully considered argument today and now it's in the hands of the judges to make a decision.
"A really important issue that was part of the appeal today is the fact that it's now been over three years since Mr Bugmy was sentenced in Dubbo.
"Because of the existence of the crown appeal all this time it's been a considerable number of years without him knowing what his end date is. That's has been really stressful for him."
