Joshua Purser successfully argued that his client’s sentence for numerous historic sexual offences against his stepdaughter was manifestly excessive. He persuaded the Court that the sentencing judge was wrong to aggravate the starting point in the Sentencing Guidelines to that of a higher category. The Court found force in Joshua’s submission that the aggravating features identified by the Learned Judge were already inherent in the offending and accounted for in the guideline; to further aggravate was to double count. The Court was satisfied that insufficient weight was afforded to the principle of totality and the appellant’s personal mitigation.
