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Supreme Court 29 March 2007

Regina v Johnson

[2007] NSWSC 274

HomicideFraud & dishonestyTheft & property
DOUBLE MURDER LIFE SENTENCE WORST TYPE CATEGORY

Citation: Regina v Johnson [2007] NSWSC 274
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 29 March 2007
Judge(s): Whealy J

Background

The offender was a 53-year-old man with no prior criminal history who had worked for several years as a part-time handyman for a retired couple living on a rural property at South Maroota. The couple trusted him, and he had performed lawn-mowing and other maintenance work at their home. His last documented work for them was in March 2005.

By mid-2005, the offender's personal and financial circumstances had deteriorated significantly. His marriage had broken down acrimoniously, and he was in serious financial difficulty. He had entered into a contract to purchase a hotel business in South Australia but repeatedly failed to meet the deposit payment obligations. By late September 2005, he faced a final deadline: pay $10,000 cash by 26 September 2005 or lose the transaction entirely.

The Crown case was that on 23 September 2005, in this state of financial desperation, the offender murdered the couple at their home, stole their bank cards, and then used or attempted to use those cards over the following days to withdraw approximately $12,400 from their accounts. A jury found him guilty of both murders and all associated property offences after a trial spanning several weeks.

  • Whether life sentences (meaning the offender would never be released) were warranted for both murders under the applicable sentencing framework.
  • Whether the murders fell within the "worst type" category of offending, justifying the imposition of the maximum available sentence.
  • How to weigh the offender's prior good character and lack of remorse against the objective seriousness of the murders.
  • What sentences were appropriate for the related dishonesty offences involving the stolen bank cards.

Decision

Whealy J concluded that the murders sat at the most serious end of the spectrum of criminal culpability and warranted life imprisonment for each. The judge found that the offender had killed two people he knew and trusted him, in circumstances of extreme violence and cruelty, motivated solely by a desperate need for money. The level of premeditation involved, combined with the vicious manner of the killings, placed both murders in the worst-category range.

The offender's prior good character was acknowledged but given little mitigating weight in light of the gravity of the offending. Whealy J observed that it was impossible to reconcile the offender's previously blameless life with the extreme cruelty he exhibited toward the victims. The absence of any remorse or contrition, while not a basis for additional punishment, meant the offender received no corresponding reduction in sentence.

The judge was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offender committed the murders and the associated property offences, expressly rejecting the offender's alibi evidence as inconsistent with the jury's verdicts. The property offences attracted fixed terms of imprisonment, structured so that the dishonesty charges ran consecutively to the stealing and bank account charges, though all sentences within each group were concurrent with one another.

Orders Made

  • Stealing charge: fixed term of 12 months imprisonment, commencing 29 March 2007, expiring 28 March 2008.
  • Three charges of attempting to use bank accounts: fixed terms of 12 months each, served concurrently with the stealing sentence and with each other, expiring 28 March 2008.
  • Twelve charges of dishonestly obtaining monies: fixed terms of 12 months each, served concurrently with one another, commencing 29 March 2008 and expiring 28 March 2009.
  • Murder of Ian Hughes: life imprisonment, backdated to 18 November 2005.
  • Murder of Anna Hughes: life imprisonment, backdated to 18 November 2005.
  • Both life sentences to be served concurrently; the offender to remain in prison for the term of his natural life.

Key Takeaways

  • Both murders were characterised as falling within the worst-category range of homicide offending, warranting the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with no prospect of release.
  • Prior good character carries weight as a mitigating factor in sentencing but does not override the objective gravity of the offending where that offending is at the most extreme end of the scale.
  • A finding that an offender maintained a not-guilty position throughout trial and sentencing does not attract additional punishment; however, the court noted that no allowance for remorse or contrition could be given where none was demonstrated.
  • Life sentences for multiple murders may be imposed concurrently rather than cumulatively, with the court directing that the offender serve the balance of his natural life.
  • The associated property offences, though serious, were sentenced separately with fixed concurrent and consecutive terms structured around the commencement of the murder sentences.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)
- Crimes Act (NSW)

Cases:
- Ibbs v R (1987) 163 CLR 447
- R v Twala (NSWCCA, unreported, 4 November 1994)
- R v Harris (2000) 50 NSWLR 409
- R v Arthurell (SC of NSW, unreported, 3 October 1997)
- Crespin Adanguidi v R [2006] NSWCCA 404
- Aslett v R [2006] NSWCCA 360
- Hillsley [2006] NSWCCA 312
- Knight [2006] NSWCCA 292