REGINA v TIWARY [2006] NSWSC 1156

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : REGINA v TIWARY [2006] NSWSC 1156

HEARING DATE(S) : 15/5/06-19/5/06, 22/5/06-24/5/06, 29/5/06-31/5/06, 1/6/06-3/6/06, 6/6/06-9/6/06, 13/6/06-20/6/06, 3/8/06

JUDGMENT DATE : 6 November 2006

JURISDICTION : Common Law

JUDGMENT OF : Adams J at 1

DECISION : On the first count of the indictment in respect of the murder of Chow Lyang Tay, the offender is sentenced to a term of twenty-five years' imprisonment commencing on 28 May 2004.; On the second count of the indictment, in respect of the murder of Poh Chuan Tan, the offender is sentenced to life imprisonment commencing on 28 May 2004.

CATCHWORDS : Sentence - murder - two victims - motive to remove witness - life sentence

LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes (Administration of Sentencing) Act 1999 s135 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 s 61(1)

CASES CITED : R v Harris (2000) 50 NSWLR 409; (2001) 121 A Crim R 342 R v Merritt (2000) NSWLR 557

PARTIES : Regina v Ram Puneet TIWARY (Offender)

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 2005/1899

COUNSEL : Mr T Hoyle SC (Crown) Mr Peter Doyle (Offender)

SOLICITORS : S J Kavanagh (Crown) Andrew Miller & Associates (Offender)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION CRIMINAL LIST

ADAMS J

6 NOVEMBER 2006

2005/1899 REGINA v Ram Puneet TIWARY

JUDGMENT 1 ADAMS J:

Introduction

On 20 June 2006 the offender was found guilty by a jury of the murders of Chow Lyang Tay and Poh Chuan Tan on 15 September 2003 at Kingsford. The deceased men were murdered at the home which they shared with the offender, Mr Tay being killed first and Mr Tan being killed some two hours or so later. 2 The three occupants of the premises, namely the offender and the two victims, were citizens of Singapore living in Australia and studying at the University of New South Wales. The two deceased were studying electrical engineering and were in their final year. They were in their early to mid-twenties, as was the offender. The offender was studying on a scholarship from the Singapore Armed Services, of which he was a serving member. Both Mr Tan and Mr Tay were achieving good results in their studies. The offender was having less success in that regard.