Regina v Michael Davison Tillman [2004] NSWSC 794

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Regina v Michael Davison Tillman [2004] NSWSC 794 HEARING DATE(S) : 16, 17 November 2004 JUDGMENT DATE : 3 December 2004

JUDGMENT OF : Dunford J DECISION : Sentenced to imprisonment for non-parole period of 3 years and 3 months with balance of 2 years 9 months making a total sentence of 6 years

CATCHWORDS : Criminal Law - Sentencing - plea of guilty to manslaughter LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 CASES CITED : R v Isaacs (1997) 41 NSWLR 374 PARTIES : Regina v Michael Davison Tillman FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 2004/13 COUNSEL : G B Lerve - Crown P R Boulten SC - Prisoner SOLICITORS : S Kavanagh - Crown Murphy's Lawyers - Prisoner

- 1 - IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

DUNFORD J

FRIDAY 3 DECEMBER 2004

2004/13 REGINA v MICHAEL DAVISON TILLMAN

SENTENCE 1 HIS HONOUR: The prisoner, Michael Davison Tillman, was arraigned before me on 25 October 2004 for the murder of Christopher Joseph Millen at Cremorne on 26 June 2003. On arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, which the Crown accepted in full satisfaction of the indictment. This was in accordance with discussions which had taken place over some weeks between the prisoner's lawyers and the Crown, and I regard it as a plea in effect entered when the alternative charge of manslaughter was first offered. 2 An Agreed Statement of Facts was tendered which was supplemented by evidence from the prisoner and others. Such evidence was all consistent with the Agreed Statement of Facts. 3 The deceased, Christopher Joseph Millen was 31 years old. The post mortem examination revealed that he was 101 kg and 1.97 metres tall. The prisoner, Michael Davison Tillman was born on 16 October 1971, and accordingly was also 31 years old at the time of the incident. The deceased and the prisoner were well known to each other, and in the past had been friends. Their acquaintance was through the playing at competition level of snooker and similar games. Other friends and acquaintances with similar interests included John Merrigan, Shawn Budd, Jason Scott and Dean Nichols. This group had known each other for several years. 4 The prisoner and the deceased had formerly been very close friends, but following the break-up of the deceased's relationship with Ms Justine Coulter in September 1992, their friendship waned due to the deceased accusing the prisoner of having a romantic interest in Ms Coulter, which was not in fact the case. As a result, there were arguments between them and ultimately in about February 2003, the prisoner told the deceased that he could no longer be his friend; but although he agreed to give him another chance, he in fact sought to avoid him as much as possible.