Citation: Regina v Georgiou & Harrison [2000] NSWSC 287
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 10 March 2000
Judge(s): Dowd J
Background
Two prisoners, Constantine Georgiou and Bruce Malcolm Harrison, stood trial for events that occurred on 9 November 1997 at the Black Market Café in Chippendale, Sydney. Three members of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Club, including the club's National President and its Sergeant at Arms, were shot dead in the basement of the venue. A fourth victim, Robin David, was shot in the neck and survived.
Both prisoners were members or associates of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The evidence placed them at the café at the relevant time, fleeing the scene in a Porsche, and disposing of items from the vehicle during a police pursuit. A jury convicted both men on three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after an eleven-week trial.
One prisoner, Georgiou, also faced contempt proceedings after refusing to answer questions lawfully put to him during the court proceedings and refusing to comply with directions of the court.
Legal Issues
- What sentences were appropriate for three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder committed by each prisoner on the same occasion?
- How should the totality principle apply when sentencing for multiple serious offences arising from a single criminal episode?
- Whether the murder sentences should be served concurrently or cumulatively, and what aggregate term properly reflected the overall criminality?
- What sentence was appropriate for contempt of court by Georgiou in refusing to answer questions and comply with court directions?
Decision
Dowd J accepted that the circumstances of the offences were extremely serious: three people were killed in a deliberate, planned attack in the basement of a public venue, and a fourth was shot and wounded. The court rejected the surviving victim's version of events, finding he had in fact been present in the cellar and had likely discharged a firearm himself, though this did not diminish the gravity of the prisoners' conduct.
In approaching sentencing, the court applied the totality principle, recognising that consecutive sentences for three murders and an attempted murder would produce an aggregate term crushing in effect and disproportionate to the overall criminality. The court structured the sentences so that each count ran concurrently with the others, but calibrated the sentence imposed on the third murder count to reflect the full totality of all four offences. This approach is consistent with the principle, drawn from cases such as Mill v The Queen and R v Pearce, that concurrent sentences for related offences must still be set at a level that captures the overall seriousness of the criminal conduct.
Both prisoners received identical total terms of 33 years, comprising a minimum term of 28 years and an additional term of 5 years, with Georgiou's sentences commencing from 3 February 1998 and Harrison's from 9 November 1997, reflecting each man's date of first custody. The 10-year fixed term for attempted murder ran concurrently within the longer terms. Georgiou received a separate one-year term for contempt of court, commencing on the date of sentence.
Orders Made
- Both prisoners convicted of three counts of murder (De Stoop, Milenkovic, Kulakowski) and one count of attempted murder (David).
- For the murders of De Stoop and Milenkovic: each prisoner sentenced to concurrent terms of 33 years total (minimum 28 years, additional 5 years).
- For the murder of Kulakowski: each prisoner sentenced to a concurrent term of 33 years total (minimum 28 years, additional 5 years), intended to capture the totality of all four offences; sentences concurrent with the De Stoop and Milenkovic sentences.
- For the attempted murder of David: each prisoner sentenced to a concurrent fixed term of 10 years.
- Georgiou's sentences to commence 3 February 1998; Harrison's sentences to commence 9 November 1997.
- Georgiou convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 1 year imprisonment commencing 10 March 2000.
Key Takeaways
- Where multiple murders and a serious wounding arise from a single criminal episode, the totality principle requires the court to impose concurrent sentences calibrated so that the aggregate term reflects the full gravity of all offending, rather than simply adding sentences together.
- Concurrent sentences are not necessarily lenient: Dowd J used the sentence on the final murder count as the vehicle for expressing the totality of the four offences, resulting in a 33-year total term with a 28-year minimum.
- A surviving victim's denial of involvement in the basement confrontation was rejected by the court on the basis of forensic evidence, including blood spatter patterns and ballistics, demonstrating the weight given to physical evidence over oral testimony in contested factual findings at sentencing.
- Contempt of court in the form of a refusal to answer lawful questions during proceedings and to comply with judicial directions attracted a separate custodial sentence, imposed consecutively to the murder terms.
- The commencement dates of sentences were individually tailored to each prisoner's actual time in custody, reflecting the requirement to account for pre-sentence detention.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
- Sentencing Act 1989 (NSW)
- Victims Rights Act 1996 (NSW)
Cases:
- Regina v Previtera (1997) 94 A Crim R 67
- Regina v Issacs (1997) 90 A Crim R 587
- Regina v Veen [No.2] (1988) 164 CLR 465
- Ibbs v The Queen (1987) 163 CLR 447
- Regina v Twala (unreported, NSWCCA, 4 November 1994)
- Regina v Garforth (unreported, NSW CCA, 23 May 1994)
- Regina v Leonard (unreported, NSW CCA, 7 December 1998)
- Regina v Fernando (unreported, NSW SC, 21 August 1997)
- Regina v Kalajzich 94 A Crim R 41
- Regina v Petroff (unreported, NSW CCA, 12 November 1991)
- Mill v The Queen (1988) 166 CLR 372
- Regina v Postiglione (1997) 71 ALJR 475
- R v Pearce (1998) 156 ALR 684