The following statistics on high range PCA have been obtained from the Judicial Commission and were accurate as at August 2010. The statistics show sentencing trends for high range PCA and are to be used as a guide only.
Regardless of how bad your traffic record is the court has discretion whether to record a conviction against you for high range PCA. If the court decides not to record a conviction, you will not be disqualified from driving. Section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act allows a court that finds a person guilty of high range PCA the discretion not to impose a conviction against them.
If the court decides to convict you for high range PCA, the court must disqualify you from driving for the minimum period set by the law. Similarly if a maximum period is set by law the court cannot impose a greater period.
The automatic period of disqualification is the period of disqualification that you can expect to receive unless you can show the court reasons why your licence should not be disqualified for this period.
The following penalties apply once the court decides that it intends to record a conviction against you for high range PCA:
1st major traffic offence
- A maximum fine of $3,300.00
- A maximum gaol term of 18 months
- An unlimited maximum disqualification period
- A minimum disqualification period of 12 months
- An automatic disqualification period of 3 years
2nd or subsequent major offence within 5 years
- A maximum fine of $5,500.00
- A maximum gaol term of 2 years
- An unlimited maximum disqualification period
- A minimum disqualification period of 2 years
- An automatic disqualification period of 5 years
Recently, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal handed down a guideline judgement that is to be followed by the courts in respect to High Range PCA. Set out below is the guidelines handed down by the court for this offence:
Firstly the court identified what a model or ordinary high range PCA case would involve. The court then made guidelines in respect to the ordinary or model case and cases that were more serious than the ordinary or model case.
Model or ordinary case of high range PCA
(1) In an ordinary case of an offence of high range PCA:
- an order under s 10 of the Sentencing Act will rarely be appropriate;
- a conviction cannot be avoided only because the offender has attended, or will attend, a driver education or awareness course;
- the automatic disqualification period will be appropriate unless there is a good reason to reduce the period of disqualification:
- a good reason may include:
(a) the nature of the offender's employment;
(b) the absence of any viable alternative transport;
(c) sickness or infirmity of the offender or another person.
(2) In an ordinary case of a second or subsequent high range PCA offence:
- an order under s 9 of the Sentencing Act will rarely be appropriate;
- an order under s 10 of the Sentencing Act would very rarely be appropriate;
- where the prior offence was a high range PCA, any sentence of less severity than a community service order would generally be inappropriate.
(3) The moral culpability of a high range PCA offender is increased by:
- the degree of intoxication above 0.15;
- erratic or aggressive driving;
- a collision between the vehicle and any other object;
- competitive driving or showing off;
- the length of the journey at which others are exposed to risk;
- the number of persons actually put at risk by the driving.
(4) In a case where the moral culpability of a high range PCA offender is increased:
- an order under 9 or s10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act would very rarely be appropriate;
- where a number of factors of aggravation are present to a significant degree, a sentence of any less severity than imprisonment of some kind, including a suspended sentence, would generally be inappropriate.
(5) In a case where the moral culpability of the offender of a second or subsequent high range PCA offence is increased:
- a sentence of any less severity than imprisonment of some kind would generally be inappropriate;
- where any number of aggravating factors are present to a significant degree or where the prior offence is a high range PCA offence, a sentence of less severity than full-time imprisonment would generally be inappropriate
- Breath Analysis takes place outside 2 hours
The police must prove that you had a blood alcohol concentration within high range PCA at the time you were driving. Normally, the police are ale to prove this by tendering a certificate that is generated from the breath analysing instrument.
The law states that provided breath analysis occurs within 2 hours of the time of driving the reading on the certificate is deemed to be the reading at the time of driving. If the breath analysis does not occur within 2 hours of driving then it is possible that the court may either dismiss the offence or make a finding that your blood alcohol concentration is lower that what is recorded in the certificate.
The police must also establish that you were the driver of a motor vehicle on a public road. There has been some instances where the police do not actually see the accused driving on a public road, but believe they were driving and subject the accused to breath analysis.
- Breath test taken at your home
The police are not able to perform a breath test upon you once you have entered your usual place of abode. If the police do so, they are acting unlawfully and the subsequent breath analysis reading may be excluded leading to the dismissal of the offence.
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