R v Horton [1999] NSWSC 983

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : R v Horton [1999] NSWSC 983 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Criminal FILE NUMBER(S) : 70046/96 HEARING DATE(S) : 17-18 August, 24 September 1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 24 September 1999

PARTIES : Regina Anne Yvonne Horton JUDGMENT OF : Studdert J

COUNSEL : M. McAdam QC (Crown) C. Bruce (Prisoner) SOLICITORS : Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Legal Aid Commission (Prisoner) CATCHWORDS : ACTS CITED : Sentencing Act R v Horton (1998) 45 NSWLR 426 CASES CITED : R v Troja (unreported, NSWCCA, 16 July 1991) R v Blacklidge (unreported, NSWCCA, 12 December 1995) R v Dodd (1991) 57 A Crim R 349 DECISION : See para 44

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION

STUDDERT J

Friday 24 September 1999 70046/96 REGINA v ANNE YVONNE HORTON SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: The prisoner, Anne Yvonne Horton, upon arraignment before Mr Justice Barr on 19 March 1999 on an indictment charging her with murder, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Michael O'Hara Fitzgerald at Sandy Beach on 18 December 1995. The Crown accepted the prisoner's plea in satisfaction of the indictment and a conviction was then recorded. The prisoner came before this Court at Lismore on 17 August 1999 when evidence on sentence was received. On the following day submissions on sentence were made and the prisoner is now before this Court for sentencing. 2 The prisoner earlier stood trial in the Supreme Court at Coffs Harbour in November 1997 charged with the murder of the deceased. The prisoner was convicted of murder on 24 November 1997 but a subsequent appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal was successful. The prisoner's conviction was quashed and a new trial was ordered on 20 December 1998: R v Horton (1998) 45 NSWLR 426. There then followed the plea of guilty to manslaughter in the circumstances I have outlined. 3 No oral evidence was presented before me. The Crown tendered: