Late last month Rippin appealed his sentence as manifestly excessive because of his "deteriorating mental condition."
His lawyer, Daniel Grove, acknowledged the home detention sentence was a lenient one but advanced the appeal on the basis that his client's mental condition had deteriorated since February and so this sentence was no longer appropriate.
Rippin was suffering from the inability to leave his house and do things such as go to a swimming pool and have a coffee, which would provide some relief from the pressures of home detention, Grove told the Court of Appeal.
Grove sought to replace the sentence of home detention with one of community work.
But this appeal was dismissed today by Justices Rhys Harrison, Patricia Courtney and Denis Clifford.
The judges' decision records that Grove submitted an affidavit from a doctor, who had concerns about Rippin's condition "having deteriorated since being placed under home detention and his risk of suicide having significantly increased."
But the judges said that the deterioration in Rippin's condition did not render the sentence imposed on him manifestly excessive.
The original judge's approach "intended to accommodate changes to Mr Rippin's condition".
"Flexibility in home release arrangements was contemplated and provide for," the Court of Appeal said today.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1156846-rippin.html
