Police were called on February 10 when Favia Peckham was at the home of his "erstwhile girlfriend" who had an apprehended domestic violence order out against him.

Peckham was arrested and refused bail, before appearing in Dubbo Local Court that afternoon where he was represented by the Aboriginal Legal Service before Magistrate Gary Wilson for one count of breaching an ADVO.

This is where "several remarkable things happened", according to Supreme Court Justice Peter Hamill.

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Ultimately within three minutes Magistrate Wilson recorded a conviction, but imposed no further penalty and Peckham was released from custody.

"The proceedings were a travesty," Justice Hamill said in a Supreme Court decision last week, which quashed the original outcome.

The police prosecutor being absent from the courtroom for the entire proceedings, Peckham not explicitly entering a plea, no papers or criminal history being available, and the ALS solicitor - a 22-year-old who had been practicing as a solicitor for a few weeks - "barely given the opportunity to be heard" were among matters Justice Hamill considered remarkable.

Peckham's solicitor raised the absent police prosecutor at the beginning of proceedings, but Magistrate Wilson later responded "we need the prosecutor. We don't really".

This decision by Magistrate Wilson, Justice Hamil said was "self-evidently, wrong".

While Magistrate Wilson did ask for court staff to call police prosecutor Sergeant Amy Jenner, when Peckham appeared on screen the Magistrate began making inquiries to his solicitor about his criminal and custodial history, where he had been living and with whom.

Peckham began telling Magistrate Wilson and the two continued talking.

Justice Hamil accepted that in a "busy Local Court" it was common for a Magistrate to speak with the offender directly to help speed up the massive workload state Magistrates are confronted with, but he said it should not have happened in the absence of the prosecutor.

The ALS solicitor told the Magistrate that Peckham "would be asking for a fine only punishment", but a plea was never formally entered and the prosecutor only became aware Peckham had been in court and the matter had been finalised when she received an email that afternoon saying he was "ready to be released".

Not being in court, the prosecutor had no opportunity to proffer the police's position on his release.

The ALS solicitor in an affidavit said "it all happened very quickly" and explained she had trouble keeping up with what was happening between Peckham and Magistrate Wilson.

She said she did not interject because she "did not want to disrespect the Magistrate and because I was nervous".

"There is some irony in the fact that a 22-year-old solicitor did not intervene because she did not want to disrespect the Magistrate's office, while the senior holder of the office seemed prepared to disrespect the entire, if ephemeral, process," Justice Hamill stated.

Justice Hamill was also unimpressed by the lack of documentation tendered in court, which meant the Magistrate had no record of Peckham's criminal history - although Justice Hamill noted the transcript indicated Magistrate Wilson was aware of the ADVO and previous breaches of it.

Justice Hamill said Magistrate Wilson also failed to give reasons for his decision to dispose of the ADVO breach.

"Well I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Give you a break. Record a conviction and send you on your way," Magistrate Wilson said to Peckham after he heard he had found a job and received his learner licence.

The Supreme Court quashed the February decision and the matter has returned to Dubbo Local Court to be dealt with under the law.

A spokesperson from the Department of Communities and Justice said Chief Magistrate Judge Peter Johnstone was aware of the decision and had raised it with Magistrate Wilson.

"The Chief Magistrate is confident that the issue has been addressed and the circumstances will not be repeated," the spokesperson said.