Robinson v. Eureka Operations Pty Ltd

In an earlier decision, James J found the defendant guilty of breaching s61B of the Public Health Act 1991 by displaying a tobacco advertisement.

The defendant owned a number of convenience stores. It committed the offence by directing its employees to tell customers who were buying cigarettes that they could have a second pack of cigarettes at a reduced price. Following that decision the defendant plead guilty to a further 23 prosecutions arising out of identical circumstances.

This hearing was to determine the penalty which should be imposed for the offences. James J decided that the objective seriousness of each offence fell well below the middle of the range of objective seriousness for offences under s61B of the Act, in part because in each case the advertisement was only displayed to a single person. His Honour imposed a fine of $5000 for the three offences that were initially contested and $4000 for the 23 other offences. He ordered the defendant to pay the prosecutor's costs in the sum of $50,000.

See also: Robinson v. Eureka Operations Pty Ltd [2008] NSWSC 1235 (19 December 2008).

Robinson v. Eureka Operations Pty Ltd [2009] NSWSC 784 (13 August 2009)

  • Australia
  • Aug 13, 2009
  • New South Wales Supreme Court

Parties

Plaintiff Dr Denise Robinson, NSW Department of Health

Defendant Eureka Operations Pty Ltd trading as Coles Express

Legislation Cited

Public Health Act

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None

"However, it was submitted that I should apply the principles in Pearce, so far as they could be applied, by fixing an appropriate penalty for each offence (which, having regard to the similarity of all of the offences and subject to any discount for a plea of guilty where there had been a plea of guilty, should be the same penalty) and then give effect to the principle of totality by the only means available where the only penalty that can be imposed is a fine, by reducing the amount of the fine. The objective would be to produce a total penalty which would be proportional to the total criminality."