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Supreme Court 1 November 2013

R v Corrie LOVERIDGE; R v AB

[2013] NSWSC 1591

Assault & violenceHomicideTheft & propertyPublic order & justice offences
CRIMINAL LAW MURDER TWO OFFENDERS PARITY CATEGORY OF MOST SERIOUS CASES SIGNIFICANCE OF PLEAS OF GUILTY

Citation: R v Corrie Loveridge; R v AB [2013] NSWSC 1591
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 1 November 2013
Judge(s): Adams J

Background

In the early hours of 1 December 2010, two offenders, Corrie Loveridge (aged 18 at the time) and AB (aged 17 years and 6 months, and therefore a juvenile), fatally stabbed 17-year-old Alan Gordon in a random street attack in St Marys. Hours earlier, the same two offenders had broken into the home of Elena Parrelli, an 87-year-old woman living alone, assaulted her with her own walking stick, threatened her with extreme violence, and stole her television and wristwatch. Mrs Parrelli was hospitalised for 22 days.

Loveridge was convicted of murder after a trial. AB pleaded guilty to murder. Both also pleaded guilty to offences arising from the home invasion. Loveridge faced additional charges of recruiting a child to procure violence against a person he believed had informed on him to police, and of attempting to dissuade witnesses from giving evidence. AB faced additional charges of intimidation and using the postal service to threaten serious harm.

The sentencing proceedings required the court to address multiple offences across two offenders, including the application of the standard non-parole period for murder, the weight to be given to guilty pleas, parity between the two offenders, and considerations relevant to AB's youth and Aboriginality.

  • Whether the murder fell within the category of the most serious cases, attracting the maximum or near-maximum sentence
  • How to apply the standard non-parole period of 25 years for murder (applicable to Loveridge but not AB, given AB's age)
  • Whether a discount for AB's guilty plea to murder was appropriate, or whether public protection warranted withholding it
  • How to achieve parity between the two offenders given their different roles, ages, and procedural histories
  • How to reflect the objective seriousness of the home invasion offences, given that Loveridge alone physically struck Mrs Parrelli while AB was present as an accomplice
  • The relevance of AB's Aboriginality to sentencing, following the High Court's decision in Bugmy v The Queen

Decision

Adams J found that the murder of Alan Gordon was an act of extreme, unprovoked violence. The two offenders had armed themselves with knives and set out that night in a state of mind that contemplated attacking whoever they might encounter. The court was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Loveridge struck the first blow in the attack, demonstrating an intention to cause extremely serious injury, and that both offenders were active participants rather than one being a merely passive presence.

On the question of AB's guilty plea discount for murder, the court declined to apply a discount. Adams J held that the crime was so serious, and the need to protect the public so pressing, that withholding the discount was justified in AB's case. Despite AB's youth and his Aboriginality (which the court acknowledged as a relevant background factor in accordance with Bugmy v The Queen), the extreme criminality of the offences was the dominant sentencing consideration.

On parity, the court determined that, despite the different procedural pathways (trial for Loveridge, guilty plea for AB) and the absence of the standard non-parole period for AB, the gravity of the conduct warranted equivalent aggregate sentences. The court noted that, while Loveridge played a more physically prominent role in both the murder and the home invasion, there was no realistic distinction between the two in terms of objective criminality for the purpose of final sentences.

For the home invasion on Mrs Parrelli, the court accepted that Loveridge alone struck the victim, but found AB equally culpable in the objective sense as an accomplice who was present throughout, including during the recorded threats of appalling violence made to the elderly victim.

Orders Made

Corrie Loveridge (aggregate sentence: non-parole period of 30 years, balance of term of 15 years; earliest parole date 2 December 2040):

  • Specially aggravated break and enter (grievous bodily harm on Mrs Parrelli): 10 years imprisonment, non-parole period 7 years 6 months
  • Robbery in company with grievous bodily harm: 1 year 8 months imprisonment, non-parole period 1 year 3 months
  • Recruiting a child to commit a crime: fixed term of 3 years imprisonment
  • Influencing witnesses: fixed term of 3 years imprisonment
  • Murder of Alan Gordon: non-parole period of 30 years, balance of term of 15 years

AB (aggregate sentence: non-parole period of 30 years, balance of term of 15 years; earliest parole date 16 December 2040):

  • Aggravated break and enter (actual bodily harm on Mrs Parrelli): 7 years 6 months imprisonment, non-parole period 5 years 6 months
  • Intimidation (taking into account the postal threats offence on a Form 1): fixed term of 2 years imprisonment
  • Murder of Alan Gordon: non-parole period of 30 years, balance of term of 15 years

Key Takeaways

  • Where an offence of murder is assessed as falling among the most serious cases, a sentencing court may decline to apply a discount for a guilty plea on the basis that the protection of the public requires the full weight of the sentence to be imposed.
  • Parity between co-offenders does not require identical procedural histories. The Supreme Court imposed equivalent aggregate sentences on Loveridge and AB despite one having been convicted after trial and the other after a guilty plea, because the objective gravity of their conduct was indistinguishable.
  • An accomplice who is physically present during a violent attack on a vulnerable victim, and who participates in accompanying threats, may be treated as equally culpable in objective terms even where only the co-offender physically inflicted the injuries.
  • Following Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37, an offender's Aboriginality and associated background disadvantage remain relevant sentencing considerations, but they do not automatically mitigate sentences in cases of extreme criminality where public protection is paramount.
  • The standard non-parole period of 25 years for murder applied to Loveridge (who was just over 18 at the time of the offence) but not to AB (who was 17 years and 6 months), illustrating the threshold significance of the age of 18 in the application of standard non-parole period provisions under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), including s 105A(1)(d)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), including s 53A
- Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW)

Cases:
- Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37; (2013) 87 ALJR 1022
- R v Crump (unreported, NSWCCA, 30 May 1994)