REGINA v. LULHAM [2000] NSWSC 687

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : REGINA v. LULHAM [2000] NSWSC 687 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Criminal FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70200 of 1999 HEARING DATE(S) : 25/2/00; 3/3/00; 17/3/00; 28/4/00; 12/5/00; 16/6/00; 17/7/00 JUDGMENT DATE : 17 July 2000

PARTIES : REGINA v. LULHAM, Dean Richard JUDGMENT OF : Greg James J at 1

COUNSEL : Crown: P. Barnett Offender: B. Murphy SOLICITORS : Crown: S.E. O'Connor Offender: Mark Klees Associates CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - plea of guilty - application to withdraw - distinction between matters constituting offence and matters going to culpability - no factors vitiating plea. Liberti (1991) 55 ALR 120 CASES CITED : Davies (CCA, unreported 16 December 1993) Ganderton (CCA, unreported 17 September 1998) Chiron (1980) 1 NSWLR 218 DECISION : Application to withdraw plea of guilty dismissed

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION

No. 70200 of 1999

GREG JAMES, J.

MONDAY 17 JULY 2000

REGINA v. DEAN RICHARD LULHAM

JUDGMENT (On application to change plea of guilty)

1 HIS HONOUR: The offender, Dean Richard Lulham, appeared before me for trial on one count that on 12 November 1998 at Beechwood in the State of New South Wales he did murder Robert Christopher Spradbrow. An arraignment was held on 2 September 1999 at Sydney in this court. At that time a plea of not guilty was indicated. 2 The offender had been committed for trial with DT, and at that time another person had also been charged. 3 Subsequently to the committal for trial, DT, who had earlier given a record of interview to the police, on the advice of his solicitors furnished another record of interview in which he inculpated this offender. 4 The present offender had on 13 November 1998 given to the police a record of interview. In that interview it is now said that he sought to protect DT. In any event it was that interview which put the police on the scent of arresting DT. He had the following day himself been arrested and given the police a second interview. In that interview he had referred to the earlier interview with police and lies that he had told the police earlier. 5 This offender told the police on the second interview, about how he and DT had considerable animosity to the deceased and that when they had been at the riverside, having been drinking too much, this offender went out to the farm at which he was employed and got a gun, allegedly to shoot mullet; that the gun was with him when he went to the island even before the deceased had gone there, and that he had used it for shooting mullet. 6 He confirmed that as he had told the police earlier, he had spoken to the deceased and had "put a treaty on". He told the police he had made good friends with the deceased and wanted "peace between them". 7 However, after he had spoken to the deceased he and DT, who had been back at the car, went home, had a few beers, spoke to other persons and then went back out to the island. 8 The following appears in that recorded interview:- "Q.107. And what did you go back out there for? A. [DT] went to shoot the fucking dark cunt. Q.108. And what, how did this come about, tell, like, you're there -? A. [DT] wanted to shoot him, I was fucking lost it mate, I just started the car, I didn't know he was gunna shoot him or fucking what he was gunna do. Q.109. Well --- A. I thought he was just going over to bloody give him a good talking to. I didn't even know he had the fucking rifle or otherwise I would have took it off him. And that's the God honest bloody truth. I don't want to be charged with anything, Jesus. Q.110. Well -- A. I try me best in life. Q.111. Alright. I'm not saying you don't, but what I need to know from you is the truth. A. Yeah, that is the truth. Q.112. Alright. You've said just a moment ago that [DT], we went back there cause [DT] was gunna shoot him. Now that to me indicates that he said something to you at the house for you to go back there. A. No, [DT] didn't say he was gunna shoot him, right, he said he was going out to talk to him. Q.113. Righto. So --- A. Give it to him. I don't know what --- Q.114. Alright. So what happened then, the three of you get back into the Range Rover which belongs to your boss? A. Mm. Me and the other bloke were drinking. Q.115. Who was driving? A. --- we were, I was. Q.116. Alright. And what happened? A. I don't know what happened. I don't know who took the gun out of the car or bloody what happened. I didn't, I would have stopped trouble, I went over and stopped the trouble before, I made a treaty with him. Q.117. Yeah. A. Made friends with him, I didn't want anybody shot or harmed. --- I didn't want to see anybody dead and I didn't want to see anybody harmed."