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Supreme Court 4 June 2004

R v MJJ

[2004] NSWSC 471

Assault & violenceFirearms & weapons
CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCING CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCING CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCING

Citation: R v MJJ [2004] NSWSC 471
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 4 June 2004
Judge(s): Barr J

Background

The offender was sixteen years old when, on 3 April 2003, he fired a bolt from a crossbow at a former girlfriend, TS, with whom he had recently ended a brief relationship. The bolt passed through TS's body and lodged in the legs of a bystander, CB. In the weeks before the attack, the offender had secretly ordered the crossbow online from a South Australian supplier, paying with his mother's credit card without her permission and arranging delivery to a friend's address.

All parties, including the two complainants, were under eighteen at the time. The court suppressed their names accordingly, referring to each person by initials throughout the judgment.

The offender was tried by judge alone before Barr J. He pleaded guilty to maliciously wounding TS with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and to using a prohibited weapon (the crossbow) without a licence or permit. He was found guilty at trial of maliciously wounding CB with intent to do grievous bodily harm to a person, namely TS. He was acquitted of wounding TS with intent to murder and of maliciously throwing an explosive substance.

  • What sentences were appropriate for two counts of malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and one count of using a prohibited weapon without a licence or permit?
  • How should the youth of the offender affect the nature and length of the sentences imposed?
  • To what extent should the sentences run concurrently or cumulatively, given all three offences arose from a single episode of criminality?
  • How should the non-parole periods be structured to allow the offender to complete his detention in a Detention Centre under the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987?

Decision

Barr J found that all three offences arose from a single bout of criminality committed for a single purpose: the offender's resentment toward TS following the breakdown of their relationship. The court found that the offender had harboured that resentment for some weeks, had made threats to "teach her a lesson" in front of friends, and had deliberately and covertly sourced the crossbow. The premeditation involved was significant to the assessment of objective seriousness.

The court took the offender's youth into account as a substantial mitigating factor. Rehabilitation was considered a primary sentencing objective given his age, and the court noted the offender had shown what it expected would be continued progress toward rehabilitation. That consideration influenced both the structure of the sentences and the length of the non-parole periods.

Because all offences arose from the same criminal episode, the court considered a substantial degree of concurrency appropriate. However, because two separate victims suffered wounds, some partial accumulation of the sentences for the two wounding counts was warranted, though kept modest. The sentence for the prohibited weapons count was fixed as a term wholly subsumed by the non-parole period on the first wounding count.

Barr J structured the sentences so that the effective non-parole period would expire when the offender was approximately twenty-one years and three months old. The court directed under s 19 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act that the entire non-parole period be served in a Detention Centre rather than an adult correctional facility.

Orders Made

  • Malicious wounding of TS with intent to do grievous bodily harm: imprisonment for nine years, commencing 3 April 2003 and expiring 2 April 2012, with a non-parole period of four years expiring 2 April 2007.
  • Malicious wounding of CB with intent to do grievous bodily harm to a person: imprisonment for eight years, commencing 3 April 2004 and expiring 2 April 2012, with a non-parole period of four years expiring 2 April 2008.
  • Use of a prohibited weapon without licence or permit: imprisonment for one year, commencing 3 April 2004 and expiring 2 April 2005.
  • The offender eligible for release on parole on 2 April 2008.
  • The whole of the non-parole period to be served in a Detention Centre pursuant to s 19 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act.

Key Takeaways

  • Where all offences in a sentencing exercise arise from a single criminal episode with a single motivating purpose, a substantial degree of concurrency in the sentences imposed is appropriate, even where multiple victims are involved.
  • Rehabilitation stands as a primary sentencing objective when the offender is a juvenile, and this consideration can directly shape both the length and structure of custodial sentences.
  • Under s 19 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act, a court may direct that the entire non-parole period of a sentence be served in a Detention Centre rather than an adult facility, and a sentence can be structured with that outcome expressly in mind.
  • Premeditation spanning several weeks, including covert procurement of a weapon and prior threats against a victim, was treated as a significant factor bearing on the objective seriousness of the wounding offences, notwithstanding the offender's youth.
  • A fixed-term sentence for a lesser offence is appropriate where it is wholly subsumed by the non-parole period running on a more serious concurrent count.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), s 21A
- Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW), s 19

Cases cited: No cases were cited in the portions of the judgment provided.