R v Younan-Sedrak [2022] NSWDC 247

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Younan-Sedrak [2022] NSWDC 247 Hearing dates: 5 July 2022 Date of orders: 6 July 2022 Decision date: 06 July 2022 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See after paragraph 100 Catchwords: CRIME – judge alone trial – multiple offences (in the nature or relating to domestic violence) against the accused's wife - federal and state offences – accused admits commission of physical acts constituting each offence - accused relies on defence of "mental health impairment" under s.28 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW) ("MHCIFP Act") and "mental impairment" under s 7.3 of the Criminal Code (Cth) – diagnosis of delusional disorder - parties agree defence available - unanimous medical evidence that accused did not know that acts constituting the offences were wrong in that he could not reason with a moderate degree of sense and composure about whether the act, as perceived by reasonable people, was wrong (s.28(1)(b) MHCIFP Act and s 7.3(1)(b) of the Criminal Code) – Court satisfied that defence of mental impairment established– special verdict entered for state offences under ss.30 and 31 MHCIFP Act of "act proven but not criminally responsible" – special verdict for federal offences under s 7.3(5) of the Criminal Code – consideration of consequential orders POLICE – powers – seizure of accused's phone – phone contains unlawful material – application for destruction of phone, or, alternatively, deletion of unlawful material – Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2022 (NSW) Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 20BJ Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) ss 13(1), 59, 93, 114 Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) ss 7.3, 474.17 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) ss 132, 133 Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) s 219 Mental Health Cognitive Impairment (Forensic Provisions) Act 2020 (NSW) ss 4, 6, 28, 31, 33, 34 Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 (Cth) Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) ss 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 Cases Cited: Attorney General of NSW v X (2013) 235 A Crim R 17 R v Siemek (No.1) [2021] NSWSC 1292 R v Siemek (No.2) [2021] NSWSC 1293 R v Tonga [2021] NSWSC 1064 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) Mr M Younan-Sedrak (accused) Representation: Counsel: Mr R Kimbell for the ODPP Ms A Betts for the accused