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Supreme Court 5 November 1999

Regina v Wright

[1999] NSWSC 1087

Assault & violenceHomicide
CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE SENTENCING

Citation: Regina v Wright [1999] NSWSC 1087
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 5 November 1999
Judge(s): Bell J

Background

The prisoner pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Geoffrey Compton, who died on 16 October 1996 following a fight in a hotel carpark at Riverwood. The plea was accepted in full discharge of a murder indictment, on the basis of manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act. The deceased had been behaving disruptively at the hotel that evening and initiated a verbal altercation with the prisoner before both men moved outside.

During the fight, the deceased placed the prisoner in a headlock and punched him about the head. The prisoner stabbed the deceased four times with a knife he was carrying, including a fatal wound to the heart. The prisoner was 31 years old at the time of the offence.

The prisoner had a prior conviction for robbery with wounding from 1991, for which he served a term of imprisonment. Following his release, he struggled with heroin dependence linked to personal upheaval, including the breakdown of a long-term de facto relationship and his mother's serious stroke. He had completed a detoxification program roughly two weeks before the offence.

  • What was the appropriate head sentence for manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act in these circumstances?
  • What weight should be given to mitigating factors including the prisoner's intoxication, his role as non-aggressor, his history of rehabilitation, and his guilty plea?
  • Whether the use of a knife in committing the offence constituted an aggravating factor
  • Whether special circumstances existed under s 5(2) of the Sentencing Act 1987 (NSW) to justify departing from the standard ratio between minimum and additional terms

Decision

Bell J accepted that the prisoner did not initiate the confrontation and that he entertained genuine, if exaggerated, fears for his own safety. This view was informed by evidence that weeks before the offence the prisoner had been assaulted by a person armed with a crowbar, which was said to explain why he had taken to carrying a knife for self-protection. The court accepted that despite his prior conviction, the prisoner was not generally a person given to violence, and that he had reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.

The use of a knife was nonetheless treated as an aggravating factor, consistent with established authority. The prisoner's intoxication was not held to aggravate the offence because he was not a regular drinker, meaning the court treated the level of intoxication as somewhat outside the ordinary pattern of his behaviour rather than a habitual risk he created. His guilty plea was taken into account in his favour.

Bell J found special circumstances under s 5(2) of the Sentencing Act 1987, accepting psychiatric evidence from Dr Devlin that the prisoner required professional counselling targeting relapse prevention. Both the Crown and the defence supported this finding. The court departed from the standard statutory ratio between minimum and additional terms accordingly, setting a longer additional term to allow for an extended period on parole with appropriate supervision and support.

The court imposed a total sentence of seven years, reduced by five months and eight days already served on remand. The sentence was backdated to 23 August 1999, the date the prisoner re-entered custody upon entering his plea.

Orders Made

  • Minimum term of three years, six months and twenty-two days penal servitude, commencing 23 August 1999 and expiring 16 March 2003
  • Additional term commencing 17 March 2003 and expiring 13 March 2006

Key Takeaways

  • The Supreme Court treated the carrying and use of a knife in a fight as an aggravating factor in sentencing for manslaughter, regardless of the prisoner's stated reason for carrying it.
  • A finding that the offender was not the aggressor, and held genuine (even if exaggerated) fears for personal safety, can operate as a mitigating factor in manslaughter sentencing.
  • Under s 5(2) of the Sentencing Act 1987, special circumstances may be established where psychiatric evidence supports a need for extended supervised release with relapse-prevention counselling, particularly where the offender has a history of drug dependence.
  • Where intoxication contributed to an offence but was not consistent with the offender's regular behaviour, the sentencing court treated that intoxication as a neutral rather than aggravating feature.
  • A guilty plea, a history of stable employment, and demonstrated efforts at rehabilitation were all weighed in the prisoner's favour, notwithstanding a prior conviction involving violence.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Sentencing Act 1987 (NSW), s 5(2)
- Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 23C(3)

Cases:
- R v Previtera (1997) 94 A Crim R 76
- R v Taouk (unreported, CCA, 20 March 1992)
- R v Azar (1991) 56 A Crim R 414
- R v Owen (unreported, CCA, 5 June 1996)
- R v Sofokleous (unreported, CCA, 13 December 1993)
- R v Bryant (unreported, CCA, 26 June 1999)
- R v Lamb (unreported, Hidden J, 20 March 1998)
- R v Blacklidge (unreported, CCA, 12 December 1995)
- R v MacDonald (unreported, CCA, 12 December 1995)
- R v Fernando (1992) 76 A Crim R 58