Citation: R v Karaitiana [2020] NSWDC 691
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 6 November 2020
Judge: Colefax SC DCJ
Background
The offender orchestrated a shooting at a residential property in Glenfield in the early hours of 1 August 2017. The house was occupied by a couple and their two young children. The offender had developed animosity toward the family following a dispute connected to a mutual friend, and had engaged in a pattern of harassment before the shooting.
To arrange the attack without revealing her true motive, the offender deceived a drug associate into believing that the family's home belonged to a person who had failed to complete a drug transaction. She supplied the associate with the address and a loaded, sawn-off .22 Browning pump action rifle. The associate fired four shots into the front window of the house. Bullet fragments were found in the children's playroom area, directly behind the dining room struck by the shots.
After the shooting, the offender collected the firearm and concealed it in a caravan at her property. She later provided false statements to police. She also submitted forged medical documents to the Supreme Court during a bail application, forming the basis of two further charges of doing an act to pervert the course of justice.
Legal Issues
- The appropriate sentence for firing a firearm at a dwelling house with disregard for the safety of persons inside, contrary to s 93GA(1) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
- The weight to be given to the related Form 1 matter of possessing a shortened firearm without authority, contrary to s 62(1)(b) of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW)
- The appropriate sentences for two counts of doing an act to pervert the course of justice under s 319 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), including one further Form 1 matter
- The level of discount to apply for guilty pleas entered after the offender had been found fit for trial
- Whether special circumstances warranted a departure from the standard ratio between the non-parole period and the total sentence
Decision
The District Court assessed the firearm offence as mid-range in objective seriousness. Two aggravating factors applied: the offence was committed in the presence of children under 18, and it was carried out at the victims' home. Although the offender and her associate were equally culpable as joint participants in the criminal enterprise, the court found the offender's moral culpability significantly greater, because she had engineered the entire plan and manipulated an unwitting third party to carry it out.
On the perverting justice offences, the offender had submitted forged letters purportedly from medical practitioners to the Supreme Court in support of a bail application. The court treated these as separate and serious offences warranting substantial indicative sentences of their own.
A guilty plea discount of 25 per cent was applied, described by the court as granted "with some hesitation." The offender had signalled an intention to plead guilty to the firearm offences on 13 August 2020, the same day she was found fit for trial, and formally entered pleas on 7 October 2020. The court declined to find special circumstances, meaning the standard statutory ratio between the non-parole period and the balance of the sentence applied.
Applying the totality principle to the three principal offences, the court arrived at an aggregate sentence of 12 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 9 years.
Orders Made
- Aggregate sentence of 12 years imprisonment imposed for the three principal offences
- Non-parole period of 9 years, commencing 6 September 2019 and expiring 5 September 2028
- Balance of term of 3 years, commencing 6 September 2028 and expiring 5 September 2031
- Sentence backdated to 6 September 2019 to account for approximately 1 year and 2 months already served in custody
- No finding of special circumstances made
Key Takeaways
- The District Court treated the deliberate manipulation of an unsuspecting third party to carry out an attack, combined with advance knowledge that children were in the target premises, as significantly elevating the offender's moral culpability beyond that of the person who physically fired the shots.
- A guilty plea discount of 25 per cent was applied with explicit hesitation where the offender had delayed entering pleas and the circumstances of the fitness proceedings complicated the sentencing history.
- Possession of a shortened firearm taken into account on a Form 1 resulted in a meaningful increase to the principal firearm sentence, illustrating how Form 1 matters carry practical sentencing weight even without separate conviction.
- Submitting forged medical documents to a court in support of a bail application constituted a serious perverting of justice offence attracting substantial indicative sentences of 6 years 6 months and 5 years respectively, before discount.
- Where no special circumstances are established, the statutory balance between non-parole period and total sentence applies, leaving the offender's eligibility for parole governed by the standard formula.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 93GA(1) (firing a firearm at a dwelling house)
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 319 (doing an act to pervert the course of justice)
- Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), s 62(1)(b) (possessing a shortened firearm without authority)
Cases cited: None stated in the judgment.