R v Ahmad [2020] NSWSC 1195

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Ahmad [2020] NSWSC 1195 Hearing dates: 31 July 2020 Decision date: 03 September 2020 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Button J Decision: 1. Convicted of the offence of manslaughter. 2. I impose a non-parole period of 5 years 3 months, to commence on 20 March 2017, and to expire on 19 June 2022. That will be followed by a parole period of 1 year 9 months, to commence on 19 June 2022, and to expire on 19 March 2024. 3. To express the sentence another way, I have imposed a head sentence of 7 years, with a non-parole period of 5 years 3 months, with a full backdate. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – sentence – manslaughter – extended joint criminal enterprise – principle in the first degree acting in excessive self-defence – use of handgun in a public place – spontaneous and unexpected involvement of offender – criminal record featuring serious gun violence in the past – sentence imposed Category: Sentence Parties: Regina Mahmoud Ahmad Representation: Counsel: S Hughes (Crown) D Dalton SC & M Robinson (Offender)

Solicitors: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Lawyers Corp (Offender) File Number(s): 2016/132271

REMARKS ON SENTENCE

Introduction 1. On 9 April 2016, Mr Safwan Charbaji (the deceased) was fatally shot in the course of a gunfight that occurred in broad daylight and in a public place in the western suburbs of Sydney. Almost a year later, on 20 March 2017, Mr Mahmoud Ahmad (the offender) was arrested. He has been in custody ever since. 2. The offender was originally charged with murder. He was committed for trial on that charge to this Court on 23 April 2019. The matter was set down for trial before me, but it was unable to proceed because of the public health crisis that this country is currently enduring. 3. The two counsel briefed in the trial took the opportunity to discuss the matter more deeply, with the outcome that on 5 June 2020 the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser form of homicide, manslaughter, in full satisfaction of the allegation against him. 4. The proceedings on sentence took place before me on 31 July 2020. After a period of reflection, it falls to me to impose sentence for that single offence today.