Citation: R v Irani; R v Sakisi [2001] NSWSC 475
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales (Common Law Division)
Date: 15 June 2001
Judge(s): Barr J
Background
The two offenders were sentenced in connection with a fatal attack on an accountant, Richard Piech, carried out in December 1999. A third party, an accounts payable clerk who had been defrauding her employer of approximately $290,000, arranged to have Mr Piech assaulted so that he would be unable to attend work for two to three weeks while she completed further fraudulent transfers. She offered $3,000 each to the two offenders to carry out the attack.
The first offender, Irani, was the man who physically carried out the attack. He approached Mr Piech outside his home unit, struck him with a hammer, and when a struggle ensued, produced a knife and stabbed him six times. One stab wound perforated the left lung and the aorta, killing Mr Piech. Irani initially denied involvement but later confessed and offered to give evidence against the others. He pleaded guilty to murder on 5 February 2001.
The second offender, Sakisi, was the intermediary who connected the clerk with Irani. He participated in the reconnaissance of Mr Piech's home unit and was present when the clerk identified Mr Piech at a club. He was convicted, on his own guilty plea entered on 1 December 2000, of the lesser charge of accessory before the fact of maliciously wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, rather than accessory before the fact of murder.
Legal Issues
- What sentences were appropriate for Irani (murder) and Sakisi (accessory before the fact of maliciously wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm)?
- What weight should be given to each offender's guilty plea, including its utilitarian value in saving the cost of a lengthy trial?
- How should drug addiction, remorse, mental health considerations, and cooperation with police bear on sentencing?
- Was a non-parole period of less than three-quarters of the head sentence justified for Sakisi in light of his personal circumstances?
Decision
Barr J sentenced Irani for murder, treating the offence as very serious given that it was a contract killing carried out for financial gain to fund a drug addiction. The court noted Irani's troubled background, his severe heroin and cocaine addiction, and his genuine expressions of remorse in a series of contexts. His early cooperation with police and willingness to give evidence against co-offenders were taken into account, as was his continued self-improvement while in custody.
On the question of the guilty plea, the court applied a discount of approximately fifteen per cent to reflect only the utilitarian value of saving the community the expense of a two to three week trial. The court did not treat the guilty plea as indicative of remorse for Irani, given the weight of evidence against him made a contested trial an unlikely prospect.
For Sakisi, the court set aside the fact of Mr Piech's death entirely, as the offence for which he was convicted contemplated only grievous bodily harm, not death. The court found his offending was nonetheless serious: the plan was executed coolly, for financial gain, and showed complete contempt for a person who was a stranger to Sakisi and had done him no wrong. The court accepted Sakisi's remorse as genuine, pointing to his early admissions and early plea.
The court accepted that Sakisi's low intelligence, anti-social and aggressive personality, and drug addiction justified fixing a non-parole period of less than three-quarters of the total sentence, given the difficulties these factors posed for rehabilitation and for serving the sentence itself. A psychiatric report raised a risk of suicide in custody, prompting the court to direct that the report be forwarded to the governor of the relevant institution.
Orders Made
- Irani sentenced to imprisonment for 20 years, commencing 25 January 2000 and expiring 24 January 2020, with a non-parole period of 15 years expiring 24 January 2015.
- Sakisi sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years, commencing 25 January 2000 and expiring 24 January 2010, with a non-parole period of 7 years expiring 24 January 2007.
- A copy of Dr Carne's report dated 8 February 2001 to be sent to the governor of the institution where Sakisi is confined.
Key Takeaways
- For sentencing purposes, an accessory before the fact of maliciously wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm is sentenced only for the criminality that offence contemplates; the fact that the victim subsequently died is put to one side entirely.
- A guilty plea discount may be calibrated to reflect only its utilitarian value (saving the cost of a trial) where the strength of the evidence against an offender means the plea does not independently demonstrate remorse.
- Drug addiction was not accepted as a mitigating factor where the offending was directly motivated by the desire to obtain money to purchase drugs.
- Where an offender's personal characteristics, including low intelligence, personality disorder, and drug addiction, make it genuinely harder to serve a sentence or achieve rehabilitation, a non-parole period of less than three-quarters of the head sentence may be warranted under what is now s 23 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act.
- Genuine remorse may be inferred from the combination of early admissions to police and an early guilty plea, even where an offender's statements are not entirely consistent.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act (NSW), s 23 (non-parole periods below the standard ratio)
Cases cited: No cases were cited in the text of the judgment.