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Supreme Court 19 December 2025

R v Zayat

[2025] NSWSC 1591

HomicideDomestic & family violence
CRIME SENTENCE MURDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTENT TO INFLICT GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM NO REMORSE

Citation: R v Zayat [2025] NSWSC 1591
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 19 December 2025
Judge: Fagan J

Background

The offender, a man aged 28 at the time of the offence, was convicted by majority jury verdict of murdering his former partner, a 34-year-old woman, at her Liverpool apartment on 26 May 2023. The couple had been in a relationship for five years before she left him in November 2022, moving into her own apartment with their young son. Following separation, the offender became fixated on preventing her from forming any new relationship and subjected her to repeated cycles of violence, threats, and controlling behaviour.

On the evening of the murder, the offender arrived at her apartment shortly after 10:30 pm. Neighbours in an adjoining unit heard loud arguing and banging for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The victim called emergency services at 11:36 pm, reporting that her ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her and stealing her cash savings. She died from a brain haemorrhage caused by blunt force injuries to her head.

The victim's parents, who now care for the couple's son in Canada, provided a victim impact statement describing profound and continuing grief and expressing concern for the long-term wellbeing of the child, who had witnessed the offender's violence on multiple occasions prior to the night his mother died.

  • Whether life imprisonment was warranted, or whether a finite term with a standard non-parole period was appropriate
  • Whether the offender intended to kill the victim or only to cause grievous bodily harm, and how that finding affected the applicable standard non-parole period of 20 years
  • The weight to be given to the offender's subjective circumstances, absence of remorse, and the prolonged history of domestic violence in fixing the sentence
  • How the objective gravity of the offence compared to other sentences imposed for the murder of intimate female partners

Decision

Fagan J found that the offender's culpability, while extreme, did not reach the threshold required for life imprisonment. The Court was therefore required to impose a finite term proportionate to the gravity of the crime, with due allowance for subjective circumstances and mitigating factors.

The standard non-parole period for murder in the applicable circumstances was 20 years. The Court departed downward from that standard for one significant reason: the evidence did not establish beyond reasonable doubt that the offender intended to kill the victim. His intent was found to extend no further than causing grievous bodily harm. This finding moderated the objective gravity of the offence, consistent with authority from the Court of Criminal Appeal.

However, Fagan J emphasised that other factors substantially counterbalanced that moderation. The offender had a prolonged history of violent and controlling behaviour toward the victim, giving him repeated opportunities to recognise the wrongfulness of his conduct and to stop. He demonstrated no remorse. The Court described the moral culpability of a large, powerful man who beats a small, vulnerable woman to death as extreme. The victim impact evidence, reflecting the devastating harm to the victim's family and to her young son, was taken into account as harm done to the community.

Comparing the sentence to cases involving intimate partner murders cited in R v Thompson [2025] NSWCCA 133, Fagan J noted that many comparable cases involved more brutal means of killing and, in most, an intent to cause death. These distinctions justified a sentence below the range of those comparators, though the sustained pattern of pre-offence violence operated as a counterweight.

Orders Made

  • The offender was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment, commencing 18 March 2025 and expiring 17 March 2049, with a non-parole period of 18 years expiring 17 March 2043. The offender is eligible for parole from 17 March 2043.
  • The murder conviction was to be recorded on the offender's criminal record as a domestic violence offence pursuant to s 12(2) of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW).
  • The offender was notified that the provisions of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) apply to him and to the subject offending.
  • A number of related charges on the s 166 certificate were dismissed pursuant to s 167(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW).

Key Takeaways

  • A finding that the offender intended only to cause grievous bodily harm, rather than death, constituted a sound reason to depart downward from the 20-year standard non-parole period for murder, consistent with the principle established in Apps v R [2006] NSWCCA 290.
  • Where an offender has subjected a victim to a prolonged pattern of controlling and violent behaviour prior to the fatal act, that history can substantially counterbalance features that might otherwise reduce objective seriousness.
  • The Supreme Court applied the beyond reasonable doubt standard to facts tending to increase the gravity of the offending, and the balance of probabilities to facts reducing seriousness or mitigating penalty, consistent with the approach in sentencing proceedings generally.
  • Victim impact evidence reflecting harm to the immediate family of a murder victim, including a surviving young child, is taken into account as an aspect of harm done to the community rather than as a separate aggravating factor.
  • In reviewing comparable sentences for intimate partner murders, Fagan J drew on the survey of cases in R v Thompson [2025] NSWCCA 133, noting that the manner of killing and the level of intent are both relevant variables in calibrating the final sentence within the range.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 19A (maximum penalty for murder)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 21, 54A, 61
- Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW), s 12(2)
- Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW), s 25C(1)
- Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), ss 166, 167
- Evidence Act 1995 (NSW)

Cases
- R v Thompson [2025] NSWCCA 133
- Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) v TH [2023] NSWCCA 81
- Ragg v R [2022] NSWCCA 150
- Tohifolau v R [2018] NSWCCA 283
- R v Jeremiah [2016] NSWCCA 241
- LN v R [2020] NSWCCA 131
- R v Biles (No 2) [2017] NSWSC 525
- R v Fyffe [2002] NSWSC 751
- Apps v R [2006] NSWCCA 290