R v Howard [2000] NSWSC 876

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Howard [2000] NSWSC 876 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Criminal FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70055/98 HEARING DATE(S) : 22 May, 11 August 2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 31 August 2000

PARTIES : Regina v Peter Andrew Howard JUDGMENT OF : Studdert J

COUNSEL : M. Barr (Crown) P. Zahra (Prisoner) SOLICITORS : Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Legal Aid Commission (Prisoner) LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes Act Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act R v Thompson; R v Houlton [2000] NSWCCA 309 CASES CITED : R v Vaughan (1991) 56 A Crim R 355 R v Ditfort (unreported, NSWCCA, 17 March 1992) DECISION : See para 37

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION

STUDDERT J

Thursday 31 August 2000 070055/98 REGINA v PETER ANDREW HOWARD

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: On the presentation of an indictment before this Court on 22 May 2000, Peter Andrew Howard pleaded guilty to the crime of manslaughter. He is convicted of that crime and it is my task to pass sentence. I received evidence and heard submissions on sentence on 11 August 2000. 2 The deceased, Adam Holbrough, was born on 5 January 1996, so he was only eight months old when he died. In September 1996 his mother, Kolene Holbrough, was living in a de facto relationship with the prisoner, who was in effect Adam's de facto stepfather. 3 On the morning of 26 September 1996 Adam was left at home in the care of the prisoner whilst his mother was out at the shops. However, at about 9.30 am the prisoner summoned an ambulance to the infant's home and the child was found to have stopped breathing and to have no pulse. The ambulance officers endeavoured to resuscitate Adam and he was taken to Bathurst Base Hospital where resuscitation efforts were continued. The patient was then transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit where he remained in a critical condition until life was pronounced extinct on 27 September 1996. 4 The post mortem examination was conducted by Dr Ellis of the Department of Forensic Medicine. He found bleeding in two layers over the brain, together with significant bleeding and some damage in both eyes. There was also some bruising to which I shall later refer, but I observe that the doctor did not consider that that bruising contributed directly to death. Death, in the opinion of Dr Ellis, was due to the effect of injury to the head and, absent significant impact trauma, the doctor concluded that this type of traumatic injury "was most probably caused by severe shaking of the infant with repeated bending forwards and backwards of the head". 5 There is evidence from a number of sources of admissions made by the prisoner concerning the manner in which the injuries were inflicted. The various accounts given by the prisoner as to how and in what circumstances he caused the fatal injuries were as follows: