R v Fletcher [2020] NSWSC 1478

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Fletcher [2020] NSWSC 1478 Hearing dates: 29 September 2020 Decision date: 23 October 2020 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: R A Hulme J Decision: Imprisonment for 15 years with a non-parole period of 11 years 3 months Catchwords: CRIME – sentencing – murder – extended joint criminal enterprise – targeted home invasion to rob elderly man – brutal and sustained attack – offender young, immature, remorseful – early plea and assistance to authorities despite fear of co-offender – concurrency with revoked ICO Category: Sentence Parties: Regina Fletcher (a pseudonym) Representation: Counsel: Mr L Carr SC (Crown) Ms S Hall (Offender)

Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions Legal Aid Commission File Number(s): 2018/390848

Judgment 1. HIS HONOUR: A person who I will be referring to by the pseudonym "Fletcher" has pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced for the murder of Mr Phillip Steele. 2. Phillip Steele was 60 years old and lived with his brothers, Gary and Trevor, in Lonus Avenue, Whitebridge, a southern suburb of Newcastle. Mr Steele was killed in their home in horrific circumstances in the early hours of Monday 17 December 2018. 3. Murder is punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life. There is also a standard non-parole period, which in the circumstances of this case is 20 years.

Facts 1. The facts upon which Mr Fletcher is to be sentenced have been largely set out in an "agreed facts" document. It is a challenging document in that it unnecessarily includes a substantial amount of information that has no direct bearing upon Mr Fletcher's offending. The following is an attempt to distill what is relevant. It is supplemented by reference to what the offender told police in an interview and what he said in evidence at the sentence hearing. 2. There are two co-offenders, Jeremy Josh Garvey and another. Mr Garvey has pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced separately and later. The other man is awaiting trial. The present offender has undertaken to give evidence for the prosecution. That is the reason for referring to him by way of a pseudonym. I will also anonymise the other person and refer to him as "Thompson". 3. Mr Steele worked for many years as a cement renderer. He also supplied small amounts of cannabis from his home. I have mentioned that he lived with his two brothers, Trevor and Gary Steele. 4. Sometime on the weekend of 15-16 December 2018, Jeremy Garvey told a witness that he "wanted to do Phil's". He and Thompson went to the deceased's home early on the Sunday afternoon and, by means of a ruse, they stole his wallet. Fletcher was not present and there is no suggestion he had any knowledge of this. 5. Later that night, after having lost an unstated amount of money gambling on poker machines, Garvey again spoke of carrying out a robbery: acquiring drugs without paying for them and "running through old bud's house". The offender was not present during this conversation. 6. Sometime later at the home of a mutual acquaintance, Thompson asked the offender if he wanted to go for a drive. The offender agreed. Thompson told the acquaintance, "we will be going to get on, and we will be back soon". The three left in a car. The offender sat in the back. Garvey had a machete concealed under his jacket. (It is not suggested that the offender was aware of this.) During the drive, Garvey asked the offender, "do you want to come and get some pot off this fella" and the offender replied, "yep".