Citation: R v Dennis [2018] NSWSC 1733
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 15 November 2018
Judge(s): R A Hulme J
Background
The offender, a 49-year-old man, pleaded guilty to the murder of a 26-year-old woman he had known since she was a child. The killing occurred in Walgett on 19 August 2016. The offender had spent the day drinking heavily with others and, by the evening, was described as well intoxicated and drug-affected, having consumed large quantities of port and smoked marijuana.
When the victim arrived at a house where the offender was present, he walked to the kitchen, retrieved a knife, and stabbed her once in the chest and cut her twice to the face. She died at Walgett Hospital later that evening from a single stab wound to the lung and heart. The offender then left the scene and, before police apprehended him, threatened another man with a knife while making admissions about the killing. That subsequent conduct formed the basis of a separate offence taken into account on a Form 1 document (possessing an offensive weapon with intent to cause actual bodily harm), which is a procedural mechanism allowing a court to consider additional offences when imposing sentence for the principal offence.
The offender had a lengthy criminal history, had spent approximately half his adult life in custody, and had experienced a violent and abusive upbringing. Expert reports indicated he suffered from polysubstance use disorder. He expressed what the court accepted as genuine remorse.
Legal Issues
- What was the appropriate sentence for murder, having regard to the objective seriousness of the offence and all relevant personal circumstances?
- What weight should be given to the offender's intoxication at the time of the offence?
- How should the offender's difficult background, including childhood trauma and substance use disorder, affect the sentence?
- Was a finding of special circumstances warranted, such that the parole period should be extended beyond the statutory ratio?
- What discount applied for the guilty plea?
- Whether the court could call up breached bonds previously imposed in the Local Court when setting the sentence.
Decision
Hulme J placed the objective seriousness of the offence just below the midrange for murder. There was no apparent rational motive for the killing, the victim was vulnerable in the sense of being unsuspecting, and the offender had been making threats with weapons to others at the same premises shortly before the stabbing. While intoxication does not excuse the conduct, the court acknowledged it as a partial explanation and considered it in assessing moral culpability.
The offender's background carried significant weight in mitigation. His upbringing was marked by violence and abuse, and the court accepted that this contributed to his entrenched substance use and pattern of offending. The expert psychological and psychiatric evidence indicated polysubstance use disorder. The court treated his expressed remorse as genuine, particularly noting that he became emotionally distressed when discussing the victim during psychological assessment.
On the question of special circumstances, the court declined to extend the parole period beyond its standard proportion, despite acknowledging that the offender had spent around half his adult life in custody and would need intensive supervision on release. Hulme J found that the substantial parole period already built into the sentence was sufficient, and that the non-parole period needed to reflect the minimum time the offender should remain in custody.
The court confirmed it had no power to call up breached bonds imposed in the Local Court when sentencing for this offence. A 20 per cent discount was applied for the guilty plea. Hulme J noted the offender was to be advised of the potential operation of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW).
Orders Made
- The offender was convicted of murder.
- Sentenced to a total term of 18 years and 9 months imprisonment, comprising a non-parole period of 14 years and a balance of term of 4 years and 9 months.
- The sentence was backdated to the date of arrest: 19 August 2016.
- Earliest eligibility for release on parole: 18 August 2030.
- The Form 1 offence (possessing an offensive weapon with intent to cause actual bodily harm) was taken into account in fixing the sentence.
- A copy of the psychologist's report was directed to accompany the warrant.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court assessed the murder as falling just below the midrange of objective seriousness, taking into account the absence of rational motive, the use of a weapon, and the offender's conduct in threatening others at the scene prior to the killing.
- Intoxication by drugs and alcohol does not excuse criminal conduct but remains relevant to the assessment of moral culpability in sentencing for murder.
- A guilty plea resulting in a 20 per cent sentencing discount reflects the utilitarian value of the plea, saving witnesses and the community the burden of a trial, and the court applied that discount to produce a non-parole period of 14 years from a notional pre-plea figure equivalent to a 23-and-a-half-year sentence.
- Where an offender has spent a significant proportion of adult life in custody, the sentencing court may take that into account as a factor potentially pointing toward special circumstances, but a finding of special circumstances is not automatic and was declined here.
- Under the procedural mechanism of a Form 1, the court can take additional offences into account when imposing the principal sentence without recording a separate conviction, and the seriousness of those additional matters can increase the overall penalty.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 19A (murder, maximum penalty of life imprisonment), 33B (possessing offensive weapon with intent, maximum 12 years)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 3A, 21A(5AA), 54A(2)
- Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW)
Cases:
- Drew v R [2016] NSWCCA 310; 264 A Crim R 1