R v Ritchie [2003] NSWSC 864

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Ritchie [2003] NSWSC 864 HEARING DATE(S) : 18/08/03, 19/08/03, 20/08/03, 21/08/03, 25/08/03, 26/08/03, 27/08/03, 28/08/03, JUDGMENT DATE : 19 September 2003

JUDGMENT OF : Barr J at 1 DECISION : Geoffrey Robert Ritchie is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of fifteen years, commencing on 7 May 2002 and expiring on 6 May, 2017. A non-parole period of eleven years and nine months is fixed, expiring on 6 February 2014.

CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - sentencing - murder PARTIES : Regina v Geoffrey Robert Ritchie FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70096/02 COUNSEL : Accused: Mr A. Haesler Crown: Mr P. Cattini SOLICITORS : Accused: Mr G. Elks Crown: Ms L. Rogers

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

GRAHAM BARR J

Friday 19 September 2003

70096/02 R v Geoffrey Robert RITCHIE

SENTENCE 1 HIS HONOUR: The offender Geoffrey Robert Ritchie killed his mother Irene Agnes Ritchie during the night of 13 and 14 February 2002 by holding a pillow over her face until she suffocated. She and he were the only occupants of her house at Mount Ousley. The deceased was 87 years of age and in very poor health. She was suffering from ischaemic heart disease, poor blood circulation, difficulty in breathing and increasing blindness. She had been informed that her heart disease could be cured only by bypass surgery, but the surgery was not offered because it was considered that the necessary anaesthetic would kill her. She was well aware that she did not have long to live. The offender, who was then 55 years old, was the adopted son of the deceased and her late husband. He had commenced living in her house in February 2001 following the failure of his marriage. 2 After killing the deceased the offender put her body into the back of his car and drove northwards out of Wollongong, eventually leaving it unburied in the bush, covered with branches. He set about pretending that the deceased had somehow wandered off and been taken away by others or had been kidnapped. An extensive police search was mounted but nothing was found. The offender was interviewed twice in February and maintained the pretence. The place where the body of the deceased had been left was remote and nobody came across the remains. 3 On 7 May the offender was arrested and charged with the murder of the deceased. He underwent an interview with the police and continued to deny responsibility. He was denied bail and during the resulting remand in custody spoke to a solicitor. As a result his solicitor wrote on 29 May to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions admitting on the offender's behalf his responsibility for the death of the deceased and setting out details of the circumstances in which the killing was carried out and explaining how the body was disposed of and where it might be found.