R v Doan [2003] NSWSC 345

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Doan [2003] NSWSC 345 HEARING DATE(S) : 24/06/02, 18/12/02 JUDGMENT DATE : 30 April 2003

JUDGMENT OF : Hidden J at 1 DECISION : See para 24

CATCHWORDS : CRIMINAL LAW: sentence - attempted murder. LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act PARTIES : Regina Hai Long Doan FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70110/01 COUNSEL : Mr B Smith - Crown Mr K Horler QC - Offender SOLICITORS : SE O'Connor - Crown Voros Lawyers - Offender

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

HIDDEN J

30 April, 2003

70110/2001 – REGINA v Hai Long DOAN

REMARKS ON SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: In the early evening of 7 August, 1996 Hoang Huy Le, an eighteen year old student, was murdered in the south western area of Sydney. A number of young men were charged with involvement in the killing, including the offender, Hai Long Doan. In June last year he was put on trial for murder on the basis of involvement as a principal in the second degree. On the fourth day of the trial the Crown prosecutor accepted his plea of guilty to attempted murder. It is for that crime that he now stands for sentence.

Facts 2 I am indebted to the Crown prosecutor for a succinct summary of the facts for the purpose of sentence. Most of the others involved in this matter were under the age of eighteen at the time. It will be necessary to refer to two of them, but I shall do so by initials only. 3 In the afternoon of Wednesday, 7 August 1996 the deceased was escorted from a coffee shop at Bankstown by a number of young men, including the offender. He was taken to a car and driven to a park near the Bankstown City Sports Complex. There he was kicked and punched by four of the men, two of whom I shall refer to as N and T. The offender did not take part in this attack. The violence ceased when an eye witness approached, and the deceased was assisted back to the car. 4 The car was driven to a house at Villawood, where N and another man bound the deceased's wrists and detained him in a bedroom. He was later taken to the garage of the house, where he was punched by N, T and the other man. N also struck him across the back of the head twice with a piece of timber. N then tried to strangle him with a length of wire. T requested the offender to hold the deceased's legs while this was being done, and he did so. It is this act which constitutes his participation in an attempt to murder the deceased. 5 Shortly afterwards, at the request of N, the offender helped to place the deceased, then unconscious, into the car. He was instructed to drive to a construction site at Chester Hill and told to remain in the car while the other men disposed of the deceased. 6 The deceased was dragged onto the construction site, where N stabbed him a number of times in the throat with a knife which he had taken from the house. The deceased died shortly afterwards. The offender was unaware that N intended to stab the deceased, and was told of it only as the group drove back to the house at Villawood. 7 At about 6.30 am the next day the body of the deceased was found at the construction site. The appearance of the body and the surrounding area was consistent with his having been dragged to where he lay and stabbed in the manner I have described. From tests conducted at the scene, a forensic pathologist concluded that death had occurred by about 7.30 pm on 7 August. 8 The offender gave an account of his involvement to Ms Anita Duffy, psychologist, who has supplied a report, and he adhered to that account in evidence before me. While I find it to be somewhat sanitised, I accept it in relation to a number of relevant matters. 9 In particular, I accept that he was not a party to any planning of the abduction and killing of the deceased, and that he became involved in the incident only on the afternoon in question. He did not know why the deceased was being treated as he was, although he believed it may have related to conflict between Vietnamese gangs in the area. In fact, the motive for the killing remains obscure. I accept that he was afraid of the young men, N and T, and that he took the part he did out of fear for his own safety and that of his sister, Tran, who was living at the house at Villawood at the time. Despite his youth, N had an unenviable reputation in the Vietnamese community for violence. 10 The Crown prosecutor acknowledged that N and T were the "prime movers" in the incident, and fairly characterised the offender's participation as both minimal and reluctant.