Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "Court Increases Gaol Term" [1982] AboriginalLawB 34; (1982) 1(4) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 13

• Court Increases Gaol Term

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Court Increases Gaol Term

On 28 October 1981, Percy Neal, chairman of the Aboriginal Council at Yarrabah, was convicted in the Cairns Magistrates' Court of unlawful assault and sentenced to two months imprisonment. The conviction arose out of an incident in which Neal was alleged to have abused and spat upon an official of the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement.

Neal appealed to the Queensland Court of Criminal Appeal against the severity of the sentence. On 10 May 1982, that Court found that the sentence of two months gaol was 'manifestly inadequate'; the Court increased Neal's sentence to six months imprisonment. Mr Greg McIntyre of the Cairns office of the Aboriginal Legal Service has indicated that an appeal to the High Court is being considered.