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Supreme Court 15 February 2024

R v AB

[2024] NSWSC 108

HomicideDomestic & family violence
CRIME SENTENCING MURDER MATRICIDE MENTAL HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS MORAL CULPABILITY

Citation: R v AB [2024] NSWSC 108
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 15 February 2024
Judge: Weinstein J

Background

The offender, identified only as AB due to extensive suppression orders, was sentenced for the murder of her mother committed on 22 August 2020, when AB was 32 years old. She drove approximately 100 kilometres to her mother's home in the early hours of that morning and killed her by stabbing her in the throat, with evidence also consistent with manual strangulation. She then drove home.

AB had pleaded guilty in the Local Court and was committed for sentence on 12 July 2023. The court also took into account, on a Form 1 basis, one offence of destroying or damaging property in a domestic violence context, arising from an incident on 31 July 2020.

The case was heard under significant suppression orders made pursuant to the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) and the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW), prohibiting publication of the identities of the offender, her children, the deceased, and related parties for 50 years.

  • What sentence was appropriate for murder, having regard to the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and the standard non-parole period of 20 years under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)?
  • To what extent did AB's severe background of childhood deprivation, abuse, and disadvantage reduce her moral culpability?
  • What weight should be given to AB's significant mental health impairments at the time of the offence?
  • What discount was appropriate for the early plea of guilty?

Decision

Weinstein J described the case as deeply tragic and acknowledged the profound harm to the victim's family and community. The agreed facts disclosed one of the most severe histories of childhood deprivation, neglect, abuse, and systemic failure in care arrangements that the sentencing process was required to weigh. AB had been exposed to domestic violence and sexual abuse from infancy, was repeatedly removed from and returned to her mother's care against professional advice, and had engaged in deliberate self-harm from the age of 10.

In the weeks leading up to the offence, AB's mental state had deteriorated markedly. She had been hospitalised following a serious suicide attempt on 2 August 2020 involving cutting, attempted drowning, and a live-streamed incident. She reported hearing voices, had not slept for three days, and had recently given up care of her three children. Her treating psychiatrist had recently altered her medication, which she reported was ineffective.

The sentencing court applied the instinctive synthesis approach affirmed in Markarian v The Queen, weighing all relevant objective and subjective factors together with the statutory guideposts. The profound background of deprivation and disadvantage, consistent with the principles in Bugmy v The Queen (2013), and AB's significant mental health impairments at the time of the offence were treated as substantially reducing her moral culpability. These factors, combined with the Form 1 matter, were weighed against the gravity of the offence of murder and the need to reflect general deterrence and community protection.

A 25% discount was applied to the sentence for the early guilty plea, reducing the head sentence from 22 years to 16 years and 6 months.

Orders Made

  • AB convicted of murder contrary to s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
  • Sentence of imprisonment of 16 years and 6 months imposed (reflecting a 25% discount for early guilty plea; the pre-discount sentence was 22 years).
  • Non-parole period of 11 years imposed.
  • Sentence backdated to 27 August 2020.
  • Head sentence expires 26 February 2037; eligible for parole from 26 August 2031.
  • Form 1 offence (destroy or damage property, domestic violence) taken into account.
  • AB advised of the existence of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) and its potential application.

Key Takeaways

  • Severe and sustained childhood deprivation, abuse, and disadvantage, including systemic failures in the care system from infancy, can substantially reduce an offender's moral culpability on a murder sentence, consistent with the High Court's approach in Bugmy v The Queen (2013).
  • Significant mental health impairments present at the time of the offence, including reported auditory hallucinations, acute sleep deprivation, and recent psychiatric hospitalisation, were treated as relevant mitigating factors bearing on culpability rather than simply on rehabilitation prospects.
  • An early guilty plea to murder in the Local Court attracted a 25% discount, reducing the head sentence from 22 years to 16 years and 6 months.
  • The standard non-parole period of 20 years for murder served as a guidepost rather than a mandatory minimum, with the sentencing court setting a non-parole period of 11 years after weighing all circumstances.
  • Suppression orders under the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) were made for 50 years, protecting the identities of the offender, deceased, the offender's children, and her biological sister, reflecting the particular sensitivities of cases involving intergenerational family harm and children's care proceedings.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 18(1)(a) (murder) and s 195(1)(a) (destroy or damage property)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), including s 21A (factors in sentencing)
- Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), s 7
- Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW), s 15A
- Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW), s 25C(1)
- Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW)

Cases
- Markarian v The Queen (2005) 228 CLR 357 (instinctive synthesis approach to sentencing)
- Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 (deprivation and disadvantage in sentencing)
- Bugmy v The Queen (1990) 169 CLR 525
- Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120
- Attorney General's Application under s 37 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) (No 1) of 2002
- DS v R; DM v R (2022) 109 NSWLR 82
- DH v R [2022] NSWCCA 200
- Nasrallah v R (2021) 105 NSWLR 451
- Tepania v R (2018) 275 A Crim R 233
- Hoskins v R [2021] NSWCCA 169
- R v Gavel (2014) 239 A Crim R 469
- R v Erazo [2016] NSWCCA 139
- R v MJB [2014] NSWCCA 195
- R v Tuala [2015] NSWCCA 8
- R v Millwood [2012] NSWCCA 2
- Luque v R [2017] NSWCCA 226
- Perkins v R [2018] NSWCCA 62
- DPP (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1