R v Sione; R v Dawson [2024] NSWSC 846

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Sione; R v Dawson [2024] NSWSC 846 Hearing dates: 12 July 2024 Date of orders: 12 July 2024 Decision date: 12 July 2024 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: R A Hulme AJ Decision: Sione: sentenced to imprisonment for 32 years with a non-parole period of 24 years Dawson: sentenced to imprisonment for 20 years with a non-parole period of 13 years Catchwords: CRIME – sentencing – murder – bashing of child – offenders found guilty of murder on various bases of liability following judge alone trial – premediated and violent assault captured on video and posted to social media – rejection of submission that life sentence appropriate for one offender – reduced moral culpability on accounts of early disadvantage and cognitive impairment – significant criminal histories taken into account – issues of parity – special circumstances considered Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 23A Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 3A, 61(1), 21(1) Cases Cited: BE v R [2024] NSWCCA 100 Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571; [2013] HCA 37 R v AD [2024] NSWSC 444 R v BE [2023] NSWSC 1007 R v BL [2024] NSWSC 51 R v TB [2024] NSWSC 447 Category: Sentence Parties: Rex (Crown) Richard Sione (Offender) Kayla Dawson (Offender) Representation: Counsel: P Hogan (Crown) T Ramrakha (Offender Sione) P Johnson (Offender Dawson)