sentence — 5 counts of operating Australian aircraft without a license offence contrary to s 20AB of Civil Aviation Act 1988 (Cth) and 1 count of making a false commonwealth document offence contrary to s 144.1 of Commonwealth Criminal Code — one count of providing a false or misleading information to the Civil Aviation Authority (CASA) contrary to s 135.1(7) of Commonwealth Criminal Code taken into account pursuant to s 16BA — guilty plea — s 16A(2)(g) — guilty pleas show cooperation in administration of justice and have saved the cost of a trial — antecedents — age — s 16A(2)(m) — unusual feature of this case is offender held US Commercial Pilot’s Licence license and an Australian Private Pilot’s Licence — offender young at the time (22 to 24 at time of offending) with family pressures on offender concerning career — incidents of poor flying appear to have occurred some time ago and offender flown many hours since — general deterrence — deterrence is an important sentencing consideration for these charges — CASA is charged with safety of our airways and it is crucial that people be appropriately licensed when flying aircraft — there are real dangers involved with agricultural flying e.g. wirestrikes —false document charge serious as CASA has important responsibilities and it is important that persons not be deceitful to CASA — s 19B — despite offender’s otherwise good character and antecedents not appropriate case for s 19B bond in light of number of charges and hours flown when offender knew they were not authorised — objective seriousness —offences not trivial or committed under extenuating circumstances — not an isolated event offending involved a lot of flying and making a false document — offender knew they were not entitled to fly for reward without an Australian Commercial Pilot’s Licence — false document charge more serious, as some degree of planning and deception involved — sentence imposed — 6 months’ imprisonment and $2000 fine — offender released on recognizance for 2 years
